Jake Fishman

Jake Layton Fishman (ג'ייק פישמן; born February 8, 1995) is an American-Israeli professional baseball pitcher for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

In high school, in 2013 he was named to the Hockomock League All-Star First Team, and to the Massachusetts All-Star Team.

He graduated in 2013.

Undrafted out of high school, Fishman didn't receive an NCAA Division I offer.

Fishman then attended NCAA Division III Union College for three years.

In his freshman season, he pitched to a 7–0 win–loss record with a 2.29 earned run average (ERA) and 49 strikeouts in 63 innings pitched.

Fishman was named Division III Upstate Baseball Pitcher of the Week after pitching a no-hitter in his second college start on March 29, 2014.

Fishman also played first base and designated hitter and batted for Union, hitting .400 with 24 runs batted in (RBI) and 12 stolen bases.

In the off-season, he played for the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

In 2015, Fishman went 4–2 with a 1.48 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 422⁄3 innings.

At the plate, he hit .477 with 23 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

He was named to the NCAA 2015 Academic All-District 3 Baseball Team as a designated hitter, with a 3.32 GPA and a major in Managerial Economics.

He was also named a 2015 Jewish Sports Review College Baseball All-American with first baseman Simon Rosenbaum and first baseman/outfielder Jeremy Wolf, among others.

Fishman was selected in the 30th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.

In college, in 2016 with the Union Dutchmen, Fishman led all of college baseball with an 0.41 ERA.

He was named the Liberty League's Pitcher of the Year, Player of the Year, All-Liberty League First Team both as a pitcher and as a utility player, and a D3baseball.com All-American.

Fishman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Hutch Fishman and Cindy Layton, and is Jewish.

He attended Hebrew school and had his bar mitzvah at Congregation Klal Yisrael in Sharon, Massachusetts, where he now lives.

As a minor leaguer, to supplement his income during the off-season Fishman gives pitching lessons or works as a strength trainer at a gym.

Fishman attended Sharon High School in Massachusetts, where he was an outfielder and pitcher.

He was captain of his high school baseball team during both his junior and senior years.

The now-6'-3" pitcher said he was only 5' 7" until he had a 7-inch growth spurt in his junior year.

In his senior year he was named to the Hockomock League All-Star First Team, was runner-up to be the Hockomock League MVP, and was named to the Massachusetts All-Star Team.

In his junior, and final, season with the Dutchmen, in 2016 Fishman led all of college baseball with a 0.41 ERA, and had a 7–0 record with 3 shutouts and a league-leading 85 strikeouts and 11 walks in 66 innings pitched.

He had an 0.894 WHIP, 11.6 strikeouts/9 innings, and 7.7 strikeouts/walk.

He threw a fastball in the low-90s.

He also batted .361/.438/.489 in 133 at bats, with 29 runs, 14 RBIs, and 7 stolen bases in 8 attempts.

At the end of the season he was named the Liberty League's Pitcher of the Year, Player of the Year, and All-Liberty League First Team both as a pitcher and as a utility player.

Fishman was also selected to the 2016 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, the only NCAA Division III baseball player named to the list.

He was the first Union player to receive D3baseball.com All-American honors at pitcher, and was chosen as an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Second-Team All-American at utility.

In his three years pitching for Union, he went 18-2 with a 1.36 ERA, and as a hitter he batted .410.

After the college season, he pitched one game during the summer for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League, and was drafted the following day.

Fishman planned to continue attending classes for his Union College degree in the fall of 2016, and to finish his degree requirements.

Fishman was selected in the 30th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was on the roster for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and played for the team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

In 2019 he obtained Israeli citizenship, and pitched for Team Israel in baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in the summer of 2021.

He made his MLB debut with the Miami Marlins in, 2022.

He elected to become a free agent in November 2022, and signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics in December 2022.

He ultimately finished his degree in managerial economics and digital media in 2019.

When Fishman made his major league debut in 2022, he was the first Union alumnus to appear in a major league game since Bill Cunningham in 1912.