Read on to meet this year’s Jewish MLB draft class.
By Jacob Gurvis, JTA
(JTA) — If the only history-making Jewish feat in baseball this week had been a historic grand slam, it would have been enough. But then a half-dozen Jewish ballplayers were picked in the MLB Draft — eclipsing 2023’s group of five.
Jewish players still make up only a tiny fraction of those selected during the draft, held during the All-Star break this week in Arlington, Texas. In all, 615 players were selected in 20 rounds split over three days, meaning that the six players identified by Jewish Baseball News represent less than 1% of the new MLB class.
The new picks include an Ivy League graduate and the grandson of a political couple honored for their efforts to free Soviet Jews — as well as college senior who collected baseball equipment for needy children as his bar mitzvah project.
Whether they actually play in the major leagues is an open question. Unlike in the NBA and NFL, where it’s common for draft picks to join their new team for the following season, baseball players often spend several seasons in the minor leagues after being drafted by MLB teams. Jacob Steinmetz, for example, who in 2021 became the first known Orthodox Jew to be drafted into MLB, is in his fourth professional season and was recently elevated to High-A in the Arizona Diamondbacks system.
Some draftees, especially those selected in the later rounds, opt to return to college rather than turn pro. Elie Kligman, another Orthodox Jewish player who was selected in 2021 in the 20th round by the Washington Nationals, is playing college ball.
Read on to meet this year’s Jewish MLB draft class.
Levi Sterling, 37th overall
Pitcher and shortstop Levi Sterling entered the 2024 MLB Draft as the No. 58-ranked draft prospect, making his selection by the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 37 a notable vote of confidence in the 17-year-old. Sterling, who pitched at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, and for the USA Baseball 18U national team, has committed to the University of Texas, though it remains to be seen whether he will play for the Longhorns next season or forgo college and begin his professional career.
The 6-foot-5 righthander is expected by many scouts to drop shortstop and focus on pitching. Should he join the Pirates organization, Sterling would train with Team Israel alum Jeremy Bleich, a former big league pitcher who works as the Pirates’ assistant director of pitching. Sterling boasts “some of the best command in the high school ranks,” according to ESPN’s scouting report.
Ryan Prager, 81st overall
It’s been quite a summer for southpaw Ryan Prager, who is coming off a stellar season at Texas A&M, where he led the Aggies to a second-place finish in this year’s NCAA Division I College Baseball World Series. On Monday, the 6-foot-3 Dallas native was selected 81st overall in the third round of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels.
Prager, 21, posted a 9-1 record with 124 strikeouts and a 2.95 RA for the Aggies this past season, and in one of his College World Series starts, Prager took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. MLB, which ranked Prager the No. 62 draft prospect, has called his fastball “unhittable.”
“Baseball doesn’t define who you are,” Prager told the Texas Jewish Post in February. “It’s having that anchor to go back to and Jewish faith is part of it because of all the family virtues that come with it. It doesn’t matter what happens on a daily basis on the baseball field or in the classroom, because you have certain things as the foundation of your life.”
Charlie Beilenson, 154th overall
Relief pitcher Charlie Beilenson was elite in 2024, posting a 2.01 ERA — the second best among NCAA Division I pitchers — along with 92 strikeouts and 12 saves in 34 appearances. The 24-year-old Los Angeles native was selected 154th overall by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round.
Beilenson, who played two years at Duke University after transferring from Brown, was named a First Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association. The 6-foot righthander is a member of New Zealand’s national team.
He is also the grandson of Anthony Beilenson, who served 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1977 to 1997, representing a Southern California district. Anthony Beilenson served for a time on the board of J Street, the liberal pro-Israel lobby, and his wife Dolores co-chaired a congressional wives group that advocated for Soviet Jews.
Michael Snyder, 304th overall
University of Oklahoma third baseman Michael Snyder was selected in the 10th round by the Miami Marlins, capping off a season in which the L.A. native was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and hit .354 with 59 RBI and a team-best 26 doubles.
The 6-foot-4 infielder attended Harvard-Westlake High School, where Atlanta Braves star pitcher Max Fried is an alum, and played four seasons at the University of Washington before transferring to Oklahoma.
Josh Blum, 473rd overall
After three years at the University of Southern California, right-handed relief pitcher Josh Blum, 21, could be headed to the New York Mets, who selected him in the 16th round of the draft. The Bellaire, Texas, native posted a 1.87 ERA in 27 appearances for USC this past season, with 10 saves and 45 strikeouts.
For Blum’s bar mitzvah in 2016, held at his family’s Conservative synagogue in Houston, the then-seventh grader “collected baseball equipment for underprivileged children,” the local Jewish newspaper reported at the time.
Lyle Miller-Green, 499th overall
Lyle Miller-Green, who was taken in the 17th round by the Chicago White Sox, took a rather unique path to professional baseball. Born Oleg Sergevich Kornev in Russia, Miller-Green was adopted by Stephanie Miller and Richard Green, who brought him from Siberia to Virginia and gave him a new name and a new life — a Jewish one.
Miller-Green, who attended Jewish day school until third grade, went on to play college baseball at a number of schools, including Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, where he blossomed into an offensive powerhouse. This past season, Miller-Green set school and Atlantic Sun Conference single-season records in home runs (30) and runs scored (94), while hitting .393 with 94 RBI. He was named to five different All-America teams, an Austin Peay record. If he makes it to MLB, he would be only the sixth Russian-born player in the modern era, and the second who was drafted rather than signed directly.