Jakub Voják

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Jakub Voják

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 212 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Jakub Voják is a catcher who has played for the Czech national team.

Voják debuted for Technika Brno in 2004, going 4 for 14 with five walks. In 2005, he moved to Skokani Olomouc and hit .246/.344/.307. In 2006, he batted .276/.362/.407. He tied Martin Schneider for 7th in the Extraliga in total bases (50).

In 2007, Jakub's batting line was .266/.327/.394. For Olomouc in '08, he had a breakthrough year, hitting .356/.424/.500 with 25 runs in 31 games. He fielded .996 and only two batters tried to steal against him all season (he threw out one of them). He was 7th in the Extraliga in average, tied for 6th in slugging, 7th in hits (42), 3rd in doubles (11), tied for 5th in triples (3), 7th in total bases (59) and 7th in runs.

He played for the Czech Republic in the 2008 World University Championship, going 0 for 13 with two walks and 7 strikeouts as the backup to Petr Čech. Voják threw out 2 of 6 attempted base-stealers. In the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers, he was 2 for 6 with a double, walk, 3 runs and a RBI to help the Czech entry win a spot in the 2010 European Championship.

Voják hit .331/.439/.532 in 2009. He was 9th in the circuit in slugging, tied Karel Hrušovský for second with 6 triples (one behind Wayne Ough), was 8th in total bases (71), tied for 8th in runs (34) and tied for 4th in walks (25).

In the 2009 Baseball World Cup, Jakub was the top Czech batter, going 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, a run and a RBI. His hits were off Dushan Ruzic and Josh Hill.

For 2010, he signed with Germany's Saarlouis Hornets, taking the same path as the Czech national team's other catcher, Petr Čech. He debuted on Opening Day as the catcher for fellow Czech player Ales Keprta. Batting third, he went 0 for 2 with a walk and 2 runs in a loss to Heidenheim. He hit .357/.476/.743 for the season, placing among the southern Bundesliga-1 leaders in homers (5, tied for 3rd with Matt Vance), RBI (30, tied for 3rd with Ludwig Glaser), triples (3, tied for 3rd), runs (30, tied for 5th), slugging (4th), OBP (9th) and OPS (4th, the best of any European player). He played for the Czechs in the 2010 European Championship, going 2 for 11 with 3 walks and 3 runs while splitting catching with Čech. Backing up Martin Červenka in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, he was 2 for 10 with a double, walk and 3 RBI; he had both of his hits and all three RBI against Thailand.

In 2011, he moved to another German club, the HSV Stealers and batted .308/.408/.467 with 26 runs and 28 RBI in 28 games. He tied B.J. Hubbert and Björn Schonlau for 3rd in RBI and he tied for 6th with four dingers. He returned to Skokani Olomouc in the Czech Republic for 2012. He hit .383/.532/.542 with 27 walks and 28 runs in 34 games. He was second in OBP (.053 behind Petr Zýma) and tied Tomáš Polanský for second in walks. In the postseason, he was 7 for 19 with 3 walks, 5 runs and four RBI. He slumped to .286/.403/.378 in the 2013 regular season, fielding .993, but again had a strong postseason (5 for 12, 3 2B, 4 BB, 4 R, 3 RBI in 4 G).

He hit .366/.481/.535 in 2014, tying Jan Drábek for 9th in average and finishing 6th in OBP (between Přemek Chroust and Tom Ward). He was 0 for 3 in the 2014 European Championship, as the third-string catcher behind Čech and Červenka. In 2015, he remained solid at .352/.448/.578 with 31 runs in 35 games, finishing 10th with 74 total bases. He hit .250/.368/.375 in the postseason but with 5 RBI in 4 games. In March 2016, he was on the Czech team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, backing up Červenka. He pinch-hit in two games. In their opener, he batted for DH Čech with one out in the top of the 9th and a 2-1 deficit against host Mexico. He flew out against Oliver Pérez. In the semifinals against Nicaragua, he batted for Chroust in the 6th with a 4-2 lead and was hit by Leonardo Crawford; Michal Ondráček pinch-ran for him.

Sources[edit]

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