Zach Borenstein

Zachary Jordan Borenstein

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 225 lb.
• School Eastern Illinois University
• High School Buffalo Grove High School

• Born July 23, 1990 in Arlington Heights, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Zach Borenstein has played as high as AAA.

Borenstein was All-State as a high school senior, setting school career records in average (.498) and slugging (.970). He hit .394/.506/.547 as a freshman, finishing 20th in NCAA Division I in OBP. He fielded .984. As a sophomore in 2010, he batted .353/.438/.575. His junior year, he hit .349/.419/.554 and made All-Ohio Valley Conference. He finished 6th in EIU history with a .362 career average and 5th with a .450 career OBP.

He was taken by the Los Angeles Angels in the 23rd round of the 2011 amateur draft. The scout was Joel Murrie. With the AZL Angels in 2011, he hit .274/.397/.451 with 2 home runs, 21 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 31 games. He hit .266/.339/.485 with 11 home runs, 50 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 79 games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2012.

In 2013, he exploded to hit .337/.403/.631 with 28 home runs and 95 RBI in 112 games for the Inland Empire 66ers. He led the California League in average (.014 over Matt Duffy), slugging (.050 over Scott Schebler), OPS (84 ahead of Duffy) and homers (one more than Schebler). He was also 3rd in OBP (behind Nolan Fontana and Delino DeShields Jr.), 3rd in RBI (after Andrew Aplin and Kevin Rogers) and 5th in total bases (257, between Mac Williamson and Darnell Sweeney). In the Angels chain, he tied Sherman Johnson for 4th in triples (7), led in homers (three more than Michael Snyder), led in RBI (3 more than Snyder), led in average, was second in slugging (.001 behind Efren Navarro), led in slugging and led in OPS. He remained hot in the postseason, leading that phase with 9 RBI to help Inland Empire win the title. He was named a California League Mid- and Post-Season All-Star (at DH), the California League's Most Valuable Player, the Topps California League Player of the Year, a Topps Class A All-Star, the Angels' Minor League Player of the Year and a MiLB.com Organization All-Star.

He fell to .136/.321/.227, albeit with 11 walks in 14 games, for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. He began 2014 with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers and batted .266/.338/.440 in 48 games for them and .256/.279/.342 in 30 for the Salt Lake Bees in his AAA debut. He was then traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks with Joey Krehbiel for Joe Thatcher and Tony Campana. After the deal, he hit .241/.333/.437 in 23 games for the Mobile BayBears and .260/.321/.548 in 20 games for the Reno Aces. With all the travel, he finished with 15 home runs and 79 RBI.

The Illinois native split the summer of 2015 between the BayBears (.314/.394/.511 in 85 G) and the Aces (.154/.170/.192 in 18 G) before back problems cut his season short. He batted .269/.337/.372 in 24 games in winter ball for the Águilas Cibaeñas. In his first full year at AAA, he hit .272/.337/.440 with 15 steals in 16 tries for Reno.

He then was the starting right fielder and leadoff man for the Israeli national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, going 4 for 13 with a walk, triple, three runs and two RBI in three games. He tied Ryan Lavarnway and Scotty Burcham for the team lead in runs as Israel won their pool to get a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic.

Notable Achievements

• 2013 Player of the Year California League Inland Empire 66ers

Sources

• EIU bio
• 2016 Angels Media Guide
• World Baseball Classic