It’s not often that a Division III college baseball player makes it to MLB. But Miami Marlins and former Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) All-American pitcher Jake Fishman made his major league debut today against the New York Mets, allowing one run in 3.1 frames of work.
Fishman posted a 4-0 record with a 1.87 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 43.1 innings in 25 games with the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp before the Marlins called him up to “The Show.”
The Toronto Blue Jays selected Fishman, who holds dual citizenship in America and Israel, in the 30th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Miami obtained the 27-year-old lefty in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft on December 10, 2020, from Toronto.
Fishman, a Sharon, Mass., native, pitched for Team Israel at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was on the reserve roster for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
He pulled double duty for the Dutchman, amassing 18-2 record with a 1.36 ERA, and slugged .410 as a hitter across three seasons. Fishman fired a no-hitter in just the second contests of his freshman campaign. During his junior year, Fishman led all of college baseball with a 0.41 ERA and put up a 7–0 mark with 85 K’s in 66 innings pitched.
— Jerry Del Priore
Photo: Union College Athletics
Brooklyn Sports World/NY NJ Sports World 