Scrappy Team Israel Battles at World Baseball Classic

As if competing in this week’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) against teams stacked with perennial All-Stars and future Hall of Famers and backed by disproportionately larger and more vocal fanbases weren’t difficult enough, Israel, participating in its third consecutive WBC, this time against the backdrop of grave geopolitical issues, had to press ahead with a complicated off-field narrative tethered to its program.

During his press conference leading up to Game 1 against Venezuela at loanDepot park, customarily the Miami Marlins’ home ballfield, Israel manager Brad Ausmus, who was admittedly caught off guard back in November when he was tabbed for the post in lieu of Ian Kinsler, was asked to address the difference between partaking in this year’s WBC and the March 2023 edition, during which he served as Kinsler’s bench coach.

“Well, obviously the state of the world is different,” admitted Ausmus, whose day job is serving as New York Yankees’ bench coach. “But at the end of the day, this is baseball. And truthfully, we’re like all the participants in the WBC, we’re representing our heritage and hoping to bring some joy to people, even in tough times, which these are tough times.

“I remember that’s what happened in the United States when 9/11 occurred and baseball came back and brought joy to people across America, and we hope in some of these tough times we can do the same thing.”

As of press time in the four-game Pool D round-robin competition in south Florida, Israel had at times managed to do so.

Though WBC pool play is often notorious for rolling out mismatched competition, this year’s edition has seen stubborn underdogs, such as Israel, keeping things competitive in the early going. Israel, behind its rock-steady bullpen, did indeed stay within striking distance of Venezuela in Game 1 before the floodgates opened and Ronald Acuna, Jr. and his countrymen prevailed, 11-3, behind a career-defining night from San Diego Padres first baseman Luis Arraez.

But the final tally belied some fairly encouraging signs for a fledgling program that’s trying to build on its 1-3 showing in the 2023 WBC opening round in Miami. After Toronto Blue Jays prospect R.J. Schreck slammed a no-doubter into the right-field bleachers in the bottom of the sixth and the firecrackers went off over Home Run Harbor in left-center, Israel only faced a slim 5-2 deficit. Alas, things quickly unraveled from that point on as the fine relief work from Charlie Bielenson and Jordan Geber — under the wing of former Braves starter Jason Marquis, who now serves as Israel’s bullpen coach after having played for Israel in the 2017 WBC, the two relievers combined for one earned run over nearly five innings — gave way to a tough outing for Daniel Federman, who got touched for four runs, including a Maikel Garcia two-run single that essentially sealed the game.

“Well, we kept trying to keep ourselves in the game hoping the offense would score a few runs and tighten it up,” Ausmus said afterwards. “The guys looked like they were doing a good job, but then Venezuela tacked on. The one real positive takeaway is we swung the bat a little bit better as the game went on. We saw some hits in the last inning. There is something to be said about guys getting comfortable in this atmosphere, getting that first hit out of the way, so hopefully that kind of carries forward.”

Prior to the following evening’s Game 2, Israel bench coach and longtime big league veteran Kevin Youkilis, who has been very vocal against Jewish hate post-Oct. 7, took to social media to defend himself against a podcast host who accused him of being disloyal to America by coaching Israel in the WBC. But perhaps his loudest statement came hours later when the erstwhile Boston Red Sox fan favorite, popularly known as “Youk,” was proudly wearing a kippah during the recital of the Israeli national anthem.

Perhaps Youkilis’ headwear choice brought Israel luck against Nicaragua as Israel evened its WBC record at 1-1 with a 5-0 victory over Nicaragua, the first shutout in Israel WBC history.

While no one in the Atlanta Braves organization suited up for Team Israel — former Atlanta ace Max Fried once again did not participate — one of Israel’s Game 2 heroes was starting second baseman Noah Mendlinger, a Georgia College & State University alum working his way up the St. Louis Cardinals organization, who got the party started by cracking a one-run single in the second inning. Behind starting pitcher Dean Kremer’s stud pitching — the Baltimore Orioles veteran referenced his Israeli relatives staying strong in his postgame press conference — and a shutdown bullpen performance, Mendlinger’s single was all the offense Israel needed to guarantee its spot in the next World Baseball Classic.

It sounds like the Atlanta native may be back for that next go-round. “I don’t think it [playing in the WBC] was much of a decision for me. If I was going to get the call, I was going to go,” said Mendlinger before Game 1 against a heavily-favored Venezuela squad. “We had an older group last time, I think that’s why you don’t see a lot of returners, but we’ve got a nice young up-and-coming group with a lot of guys hungry to get in there.”

After getting bumped up to the Cards’ Triple-A affiliate in Memphis last summer, Mendlinger is inching closer to the life-changing big league call-up — the potential for which had no bearing on his decision to represent the blue-and-white on the global stage.

“I don’t think so. At the end of the day, I think that this [WBC] is a crazy opportunity,” added Mendlinger, who went 3-3 with a walk against Nicaragua. “I mean we’re playing some of the best players in the world and ultimately, there’s not a spring training team I think that compares to some of these teams.”

All told, from workouts, exhibition games against the Miami Marlins and New York Mets, and actual WBC competition, Team Israel was only together for not even two weeks. But third base coach and former big league second baseman Mark Loretta liked what he saw from the versatile infielder who can be plugged in anywhere across the diamond.

“I’ve been real impressed with Noah,” said Mendlinger. “High energy, very athletic, kind of a baseball rat I would say. I would think he would have a serious chance to be in the big leagues at some point.”

Certainly, there is no better litmus test than sharing the same diamond with the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Acuna, Jr.