Jakub Kubica

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 183 lb.

• Born March 13, 1998 in Ostrava Czech Republic

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Jakub Kubica has played in the Extraliga and for the Czech national team.

He debuted with the 2015 Arrows Ostrava, going 1 for 7 with a walk and pitching a shutout inning. He was 1 for 2 in the 2015 U-18 Baseball World Cup and allowed five runs (four earned) in 6 1/3 IP. In 2016, he became a regular and hit .309/.436/.353 with 31 walks in 38 games, fielding .944. He was second in the Extraliga in walks, two behind Přemek Chroust. In the 2016 European Junior Championship, he was3 for 18 with a double, two walks, three runs and three RBI while handling nine chances error-free.

Kubica hit .253/.408/.284 in the 2017 regular season with 24 walks in 31 games, fielding .946. He was 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA in two mound appearances. In the playoffs, he fell to .203/.292/.250. He tied Petr Síla for 4th in walks in the regular season. He fielded .954 in 2018 and hit only .215/.354/.215 in the regular season but .290/.420/.304 with 17 runs in 24 postseason games as the Arrows won their first title. His 31 walks between the regular season and playoffs were third, behind Terrell Joyce and Jakub Voják. He hit .438/.438/.563 with four RBI in five games in the 2018 CEB Cup, finishing tenth in average. He struggled in the 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup at .095/.208/.143 at the plate and .879 in the field. He tied Tyler Smith and Martin Kalábek for second in the event with four errors; only Junior Martina (6) had more.

In the 2019 European Champions Cup, he was 3 for 11 with four walks, a double, four runs and two RBI in four games, handling 14 chances error-free. He tied for 6th in walks and tied Niels van Weert for third in assists (12). In that year's U23 European Championship, he was two for ten with three walks, a steal and a homer. In the Extraliga, he batted .365/.491/.400 with 23 walks and 35 runs in 25 games in the regular season, fielding .951. He was at .200/.333/.267 in the playoffs with 17 walks and 23 runs in 23 games as Ostrava repeated. Between the two rounds, he was third in runs and first in walks. He was also 9th with 89 assists in the regular season.

The '20 season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 22-year-old was really rocking in the shortened season, hitting .520/.692/.740 with 26 runs in 16 games in the regular season (fielding .932) and .338/.500/.549 with 21 runs in 21 postseason games. Combining the two halves, he tied Michael Vykoukal for 4th in hits (50), was second in average (.413, .010 behind Martin Mužík), led in OBP (.586, .058 ahead of Petr Zýma), was 4th in slugging (between Marek Chlup and Voják), tied Voják for the most doubles (14), led in runs (49, 8 ahead of Mužík and Arnošt Dubový), was 3rd in OPS (after Matěj Menšík and Mužík), was 3rd with 18 extra-base hits (behind Mužík and Voják), tied Petr Čech for 4th in total bases, led in walks (46, 16 ahead of runner-up Chlup) and tied for 5th in HBP (6).

Jakub hit only .136/.136/.182 for Ostrava in four games in the 2021 European Champions Cup but handled 16 chances without a miscue. He was 7th in assists (12). He hit .308/.550/.389 with six walks and five runs in five games in the 2021 European U23 Championship. He tied for 9th in runs, tied for 4th in walks and was 6th with 9 assists. In the 2021 U23 Baseball World Cup, he was 2 for 19 but with 11 walks, 5 runs and a RBI. He fielded .867. The Czech third baseman led the event in walks, two ahead of former Dodgers farmhand Aldo Espinoza. He produced at a .374/.488/.525 rate in the Extraliga regular season, with 22 walks and 33 runs in 26 games, fielding .906. He was second in the league with 19 errors but also led in assists (118, 14 ahead of #2 Smith). In the playoffs, he helped Ostrava to a third title, hitting .407/.490/.457 with 22 runs in 21 games. Between the regular season and playoffs, he was 1st in hits (70, 7 ahead of Dubový), 7th in average (between Eugene Helder and Pabel Manzanero), 5th in OBP, tied Radim Novotný for second in runs (2 behind Smith), 5th in total bases (between Smith and Čech) and again first in walks (four ahead of Smith). He won playoff MVP.

He was 0 for 11 with 4 walks and 3 runs in the 2022 European Champions Cup. He tied for 8th in walks. In that year's Extraliga, he hit .392/.505/.432 in the regular season and fielded .953. In the postseason, he batted .277/.390/.323. His run of walk titles ended at three, as he finished 5th between the regular season and playoffs. He was 10th in hits (47), was 9th in average (between Martin Červinka and Keibert Petit) and 6th in OBP. Through the end of the year, he was among the Extraliga career leaders in OBP (.445, 15th, between Ota Kaňok and Ryan Berg) and walks (245, 17th, between Daniel Mráz and Tomáš Ovesný). The latter was impressive as he was not yet 25 years old and was among the top 20 in a counting stat. For comparison, he had played 311 games to the 449 Mráz had played.

The Ostrava native then debuted for the Czech senior national team, at the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He played one game, starting at third in the opener against Spain. He grounded out against former major leaguer Rogelio Armenteros and struck out facing Lowuin Sacramento before Filip Smola replaced him; Smola would play their other games at the hot corner.