Dean Kremer

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Dean Junior Kremer

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Biographical Information[edit]

Dean Kremer made his major league debut in 2020.

Kremer starred for the Israeli national team in the 2014 C-Level European Championship (he was born in the US, but both of his parents were both Israeli), going 2-0 with only six hits and two unearned runs in 13 innings, fanning 20 while walking one. He led the event in whiffs, ERA and innings pitched and tied Serhiu Susanu for the most wins. He was named Best Pitcher as Israel won a spot in the 2015 B-Level European Championship with their first-place finish.

In junior college in 2015, he was 13-1 with a 2.00 ERA. In the 2015 amateur draft, the San Diego Padres took Kremer in the 38th round. He was the first citizen of Israel to be picked in the MLB amateur draft. He did not sign and took a scholarship to UNLV for the 2015-2016 season. In the 2015 B-Level European Championship, he again was Israel's ace, beating former minor leaguer Alex Lukashevich and Belarus in his first outing, allowing one hit and no runs while striking out 10 in six innings. In a comeback win over Poland, he had a pinch-hit single in the 9th off Patel Sztejka and scored the tying run on Eitan Maoz's walk-off grand slam. Israel was 3-1 going into the last day of the round-robin, tied with Sweden and host Austria. With host Austria having an easier nightcap game, Israel had to beat Sweden to advance to the finals. They turned to Kremer and he did a good job, holding Sweden (which had the longest run of consecutive European Championship appearances at the time) to two runs through seven (albeit with 8 hits and 4 walks allowed; he held a 5-2 lead. With one out in the 8th, though, he allowed a double to Nicklas Melin and hit Björn Johannessen. Shlomo Lipetz relieved (Kremer had thrown 139 pitches) and allowed both inherited runners to score before exiting the jam. In the 9th, though, Lipetz gave up five runs; Israel rallied for three in the bottom of the inning for a close 9-8 defeat. For the event, he was 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA and 16 K in 13 1/3 IP to win Best Pitcher honors. He was second to Marek Deska in both strikeouts and ERA. He also had gone 2 for 2 with three runs as a key pinch-hitter.

Transferring to UNLV for the 2015-2016 season, he was 4-5 with a 4.92 ERA. The Los Angeles Dodgers took him in the 14th round of the 2016 amateur draft and he signed a deal this time. He split the summer between the Ogden Raptors (0-1, 3.86 in 6 GS) and Great Lakes Loons (2-0, 0.59 in 6 G). He struck out 35 in 31 2/3 IP. He was back with Israel for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, one of only two players who had citizenship (the others were all Jewish American players, thus making them eligible for citizenship); Lipetz was the other. In the finale against Great Britain, with a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic on the line, he relieved former major leaguer Craig Breslow in the 9th with a 9-1 lead. He retired Jasrado Chisholm, gave up singles to Reshard Munroe and Todd Isaacs, then fanned Jordan Serena and got Chris Berset on a grounder to end it to send Israel to the Classic. He made one appearance in the WBC, allowing a run in two-thirds of an inning.

He pitched for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2017, but had an off-year with a record of 1-4, 5.18 in 33 games, including 6 starts. He struck out 96 in 80 innings and recorded 3 saves. In 2018, began the season as a full-time starter at Rancho Cucamonga, where he was 5-3, 3.30 after 16 starts. He earned a mid-season promotion to the AA Tulsa Drillers, but after winning his first start with 7 scoreless innings, he was one of five prospects traded to the Baltimore Orioles on July 18th in order for the Dodgers to land All-Star SS Manny Machado. He was 4-2 with a 2.58 ERA for the Bowie Baysox after the trade.

Kremer split 2019 between the Frederick Keys (0 R, 14 K in 9 2/3 IP), Bowie (9-4, 2.98) and the Norfolk Tides (0-2, 8.84). He tied Alfred Gutierrez and James Marvel for 8th in the Eastern League in wins. Among O's farmhands, only Zac Lowther and Grayson Rodriguez had more victories. His 122 K tied Drew Rom for 7th in the chain. He was 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.

He did not pitch in the minors in 2020 as the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. He got called up to the big club in September. In his debut on September 6th, he struck out the first two batters he faced in The Show, New York Yankees DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit. He gave up a run in the 2nd on two walks, a Miguel Andujar single and a RBI grounder from Erik Kratz, but allowed no more hits and only one walk while lasting through the 6th, finishing with seven whiffs. Tanner Scott took over after Kremer's fine MLB and 2020 debut, Dean getting the win over Masahiro Tanaka. While he had been the first Israeli citizen to be drafted, he was not the first person to be both an Israeli citizen and a major leaguer; several Jewish ex-big leaguers like Danny Valencia and Jon Moscot had obtained citizenship to help Israel's bid for the 2020 Olympics (which were later postponed due to pandemic).

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • AL Shutouts Leader (2022)

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Zachary Silver: "Reinvented Kremer continues breakout season: Baltimore's defense makes several highlight-reel worthy plays behind him", mlb.com, June 29, 2022. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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