Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader drops out of Team Israel’s World Baseball Classic roster, citing injuries

Despite another injury to a key pitcher, the team is still poised to have its highest ratio of major league players ever

(JTA) — New York Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader, whose father is Jewish, shared this week that he will no longer play for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, citing a desire to remain healthy after an injury-plagued 2022 season. The 2023 Major League Baseball season begins only days after the WBC concludes in March.

But Bader did not rule out the possibility of playing for Israel in the future. 

“When it comes back around and the opportunity’s extended, I would absolutely consider it much more, and we’ll kind of go from there,” he said on the New York Post’s baseball podcast.

Bader’s Yankee teammate Scott Effross, a reliever who posted a stellar 2.54 earned-run average in 2022, had also planned to play for Team Israel. But he had to undergo Tommy John surgery this fall, which will likely keep him off the field for at least a year.

Thanks to a recruiting effort by former All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler, who is now Team Israel’s manager after previously playing for it during the 2020 Olympics, the squad remains loaded with major league talent

According to publicly released information and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s reporting, here are some of Team Israel’s key current roster pieces:

  • Pitchers: Dean Kremer (Baltimore Orioles), Jake Bird (Colorado Rockies), Eli Morgan (Cleveland Guardians), Zack Weiss (Los Angeles Angels), Richard Bleier (Miami Marlins), Jake Fishman (Marlins organization), Robert Stock (plays in Korea), Bubby Rossman (free agent)
  • Infielder: Ty Kelly (free agent)
  • Catcher: Ryan Lavarnway (free agent)
  • Outfielders: Joc Pederson (San Francisco Giants), Kevin Pillar (free agent)

All told, the Israeli team could feature up to a dozen major league players. One contributing factor is that Israel’s group in the WBC will play in Miami, close to many MLB team’s spring training facilities.

“Team Israel has shown well,” Kinsler told JTA in October. “Being in Miami makes [players’] decisions easier. All of those things led to more opportunities for more players. I think we get more accomplished players.”

Another element is Israel’s continued success on the international stage. The team reached seventh place at the 2017 WBC and was one of just six teams to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

With the tournament still months away, the recruitment continues. 

Houston Astros star Jewish third baseman Alex Bregman, who played for the U.S. team in 2017, does not plan to play in the tournament. Atlanta Braves ace pitcher Max Fried has thus far been noncommittal, according to Team Israel’s general manager Peter Kurz. Catcher Garrett Stubbs, a backup on the Philadelphia Phillies, is considering joining the team. Milwaukee Brewers slugging first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who has a Mexican father and Jewish mother, has committed to play for Mexico.

Kinsler said his biggest recruit so far — Pederson, who has become a star in recent years by helping multiple teams earn World Series victories — is helping with the effort.

“Joc’s making phone calls and sending texts and is doing his best,” Kinsler said. “He wants to play on a competitive team.”

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.