Jewish Middle Infielder and Team Israel star Zack Gelof has had a wonderful start to his career, winning the award for American League (AL) Rookie of the Month.

The twenty-three year old was called up to the Major League on July 14th after spending most of the year with Oakland’s AAA affiliate. In AAA Gelof dominated, getting a hit almost a third of the time while also putting up an impressive .930 OPS (On base Plus Slugging), while the league average is around .700. He also posted a 124 WRC+ (Weighted Runs Created +), twenty-four points above the average player. Since joining the big league squad, Gelof has not skipped a beat, reaching base a third of the time with an .859 OPS and a 136 WRC+, thirty-six points above the average player. In his  monster month of August, in which he smashed fifteen extra base hits and seven homeruns, the second baseman led all AL rookies in both categories. He had seven games with multiple hits,  finishing with thirty hits in twenty-seven games.

The up and coming stud made his introduction to baseball fanatics and players all around the globe this spring during the World Baseball Classic (WBC). Gelof played with Team Israel who went 1-3 in the tournament. 

Heschel baseball sophomore shortstop PJ Abramason explained what looking up to a Jewish baseball player in Major League Baseball means to him: “Watching a Jewish baseball player on TV each night is inspiring to young Jewish baseball players. It is cool to watch a player who had a similar upbringing as myself. Zack Gelof is someone that encourages and motivates me to work hard.”