Jacob Louis Kalish (born July 9, 1991) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

in the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

organization. He was picked by the Royals in the 32nd round of the

2015 Major League Baseball Draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks f ...

. In 2016 Kalish was an MILB.com Kansas City Organization All Star, and named the organization's best relief pitcher. He played for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Kalish will pitch for Team Israel in the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

in Miami, in March 2023.

Early years

Kalish was born in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan ...

, to Steve and Eileen Kalish, and is Jewish."Jake Kalish Stats, Highlights, Bio,"
MiLB.com"Jake Kalish - 2011 Baseball Roster,"
George Mason University Athletics His brother

Ryan Kalish Ryan Michael Kalish (born March 28, 1988) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox in 2010 and 2012 and for the Chicago Cubs in 2014 and 2016. A standout high school ...

has played as an outfielder in the major leagues with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. He grew up in

Shrewsbury, New Jersey Shrewsbury is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Centrally located in the Jersey Shore region in the New York Metropolitan area, the borough is an historic bedroom community of New York City. As of the 2010 United States ...

. While in middle school, he pitched the Jersey Shore Hurricanes U14-15 team to the 2006 championship of the United States Amateur Baseball League (USABL), a youth league headquartered in

Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was down from 19,306 in 2000 but still up from 18,177 in 1990. The Borough is a Jersey Shore community si ...

. Kalish was a pitcher at

Red Bank Regional High School Red Bank Regional High School (often abbreviated RBR) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the boroughs of Little Silver, Red Bank and Shrewsbur ...

Little Silver, New Jersey Little Silver is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,131, an increase of 181 (+3.0%) from the 2010 census count of 5,950, which in turn reflected a drop ...

, from which he graduated in 2010. He was Division Pitcher of the Year both his junior and senior years. He also played football for the school as a freshman.

College

He then attended

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was orig ...

, where he played for the Patriots. While at George Mason, Kalish played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

for the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Brook ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

in 2012, and returned to the league in 2014 to play for the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane F ...

. As a switch-hitter for George Mason, Kalish batted .301 in 39 games as a senior in 2015, and started 13 games in which he had a 3.44 ERA and 77 strikeouts (2nd in the Atlantic-10 Conference) in 83.2 innings. He was picked by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

in the 32nd round of the

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

In his debut year of 2015, Kalish pitched for the

AZL Royals The Arizona Complex League Royals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compos ...

of the Rookie

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it ...

and the rookie-level

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington I ...

of the Rookie Advanced

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from J ...

, going a combined 3–3 with a 2.67 ERA, as he kept batters to a .202 batting average. In 2016, Kalish pitched for the Single-A

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

and the High-A

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 un ...

, going a combined 3–0 with a 2.45 ERA in 23 relief appearances, as he kept batters to a .192 batting average and averaged 9.1 strikeouts/9 innings and 2.1 walks/9 innings.Nick Kappel (November 16, 2016)
"MiLB.com Names Royals’ Organizational All-Stars,"
MiLB.com. That season he was an MILB.com Kansas City Organization All Star, and named the organization's best relief pitcher. For the 2017 season, Kalish pitched for the Wilmington Blue Rocks again, going 1–1 with one save with a 1.93 ERA in 10 relief appearances while striking out 23 in 18.2 innings, and for the Double-A

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark, which ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, going 0–7 with a 3.77 ERA in 18 games (9 of them starts). In August 2017, pitching for the

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at Wer ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

Kalish made his second-ever start in Triple-A, against three-time

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

winner and former MVP

Clayton Kershaw Clayton Edward Kershaw (born March 19, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) . He has played for the Dodgers for the entirety of his MLB career. A left-handed starting pi ...

, who was in the minors for a rehab start. Kalish outdueled Kershaw with eight strikeouts and two walks in seven shutout innings. In three starts for Omaha, he was 1–0 with a 2.35 ERA, striking out 16 in 15.1 innings. Kalish started the 2018 season pitching again for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League, for whom he was 2–2 with a 5.12 ERA and 39 strikeouts and 8 walks in 38.2 innings, and then pitched for the Omaha Storm Chasers of the Pacific Coast League, where he was 6–6 with a 3.34 ERA and 85 strikeouts and 13 walks in 89 innings. His 124 strikeouts between the two teams led all Kansas City minor league pitchers for the season. He was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the week ended July 22. In 2019 he pitched three games for the Naturals, and 24 games for the Storm Chasers. He was a combined 8–8 with a 4.86 ERA in 127.2 innings on the year. Kalish did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. In 2021, Kalish made 30 appearances for Triple-A Omaha, but struggled greatly to a 3-6 record and 6.94 ERA with 106 strikeouts in 96.0 innings pitched across 30 appearances. He elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.

Los Angeles Angels

On March 19, 2022, Kalish signed a minor league contract with the

. He pitched for the Class AAA

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark op ...

of the Pacific Coast League, and was 10-2 (his 10 wins tied for the league lead) with a 2.87 ERA (7th in the league) in 23 games (11 starts) covering 84.2 innings in which he walked only 19 batters (2.0 walks per 9 innings; 4th), 3.79 strikeouts/walk (7th), and a 1.134 WHIP (7th). He elected free agency on November 10, 2022. In his minor league career through 2022, Kalish was 37–35 with a 4.13 ERA and 577 strikeouts. He re-signed a minor league deal with the Angels on December 31, 2022.

Team Israel

2017

Kalish pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in March 2017, twice facing Team Netherlands.">"MLB players Ty Kelly, Sam Fuld commit to World Baseball Classic roster; Team Israel stated that it is finalizing its roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic in March in South Korea,"
''Haaretz'', January 20, 2017

2023

Kalish will pitch for Team Israel in the

in Miami, starting March 11–15, 2023. He will be playing for Team Israel manager and former All-Star

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball second baseman, World Series champion, World Baseball Classic champion, Olympian, and advisor in the San Diego Padres fron ...

, and alongside All-Star outfielder

Joc Pederson Joc Russell Pederson ( ; born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Br ...

and pitcher

Dean Kremer Dean Junior Kremer ( he, דין קרמר; born January 7, 1996) is an Israeli–American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 2015 he became the first Israeli drafted by an MLB team. He made ...

, among others.

References

External links

Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalish, Jake 1991 births Living people Baseball players from New Jersey Brewster Whitecaps players Burlington Royals players George Mason Patriots baseball players Jewish American baseball players Lexington Legends players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players People from Red Bank, New Jersey People from Shrewsbury, New Jersey Red Bank Regional High School alumni Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey Wareham Gatemen players Wilmington Blue Rocks players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 21st-century American Jews