Weisenberg New Jewish Hope for Braves

The Atlanta Braves signed their 14th-round draft pick, Keith Weisenberg, for a $125,000 bonus June 20 and assigned him to the Danville Braves in the Appalachian League.

According to Jewish Baseball News, Weisenberg was the second of 11 Jewish players taken in the 40-round Major League Baseball draft in mid-June. The 21-year-old, right-handed relief pitcher decided to leave Stanford after his junior year to sign with the Braves.

“I literally could not be happier to be joining the Braves organization,” Weisenberg told the Bay Area News Group. “I’m really thankful for everything Stanford has done for me in preparing me for the next chapter in life.”

Weisenberg is from Seminole, Fla. He’s 6-foot-5 and listed as 195 pounds by the Danville Braves and 215 pounds by Stanford. He had an ERA of 6.14 in 63 innings across three seasons for the Cardinal, but that number was inflated by a rough freshman year. His last two years, when he was used only as a reliever, his ERA was 3.89, and he struck out almost a batter per inning.

The Toronto Blue Jays drafted him in the 38th round out of Osceola High School in 2014.

Through Monday, June 26, six games into Danville’s season, Weisenberg had not played.