Michael Wielansky

Michael Eric Wielansky

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.
• School College of Wooster
• High School Ladue Horton Watkins High School

• Born March 18, 1997 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Michael Wielansky has played as high as AAA and been on the Israeli national team.

Wielansky was his conference player of the year as a high school senior and also played soccer. He hit .370/.456/.615 with 59 runs, 53 RBI and 22 steals (in 24 tries) in 48 games as a college freshman. He was second in the North Coast Athletic Conference in hits (73), led in steals and not only led in assists (173) but set a NCAC record in that department. He was All-Conference. His sophomore season, he was even better - .425/.509/.731, 6 3B, 69 R in 46 G. He was named first-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association and won the RBCA/Rawlings Gold Glove for NCAA Division III at shortstop (fielding .986), the first player in school history to take a Gold Glove. He led Division III players in runs, was second in total bases (136) and 6th in hits. He led the NCAC in average, slugging and six other categories. He was MVP of the Valley Baseball League that summer.

He remained stellar in 2018 at .401/.508/.665 with 76 runs, 7 triples and 40 walks in 50 games. He set school career records for assists and triples, was 6th in Division III in total bases and walks and led the NCAC in five categories. He fielded .966 in another strong defensive turn. He was three runs shy of the school record and was the second known Division III player to reach 200 hits, 200 runs and 150 RBI by the end of his junior year, following Matt Gelotti. He was again All-American and was also named the ABCA Player of the Year for Division III. The Houston Astros took him in the 18th round of the 2018 amateur draft and he signed for a $75,000 bonus. He struggled in his pro debut, batting .204/.302/.314 for the Tri-City ValleyCats. After his defensive success in college, he was used as a utility infielder as a pro.

In '19, he improved to .254/.345/.364 for the Quad Cities River Bandits, again in a utility role. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned in 2021 to play for the Corpus Christi Hooks (5 for 32, 7 BB) and Sugar Land Skeeters (0 for 7, 2 BB). Let go by Houston, he played for the independent Long Island Ducks and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2022, hitting a combined .269/.384/.424 with 64 runs in 83 games. Playing for the Federales de Chiriquí in the 2023 Caribbean Series, he hit a two-run homer off Randy Consuegra of Colombia and banged out a three-hit game against Cuba. He batted .333/.394/.533 for the event, tying for 9th in hits (10) and tying for 5th in doubles (3). He did not make the All-Star team for the event as Francisco Acuña was picked at second.

He then made Israel's roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His first game, he replaced Ty Kelly at short. Coming to bat with the bases loaded against Jonathan Loáisiga, he hit into a force at home. His other game, he started against Venezuela and went 2-for-4 with hits off Jesús Luzardo and Enmanuel De Jesus. He thus outperformed starter Kelly, who was 0-for-6 in the Classic.