SPORTS 48 Photo credit: HIllel kuttler Josh Zeid (left) and friend Ryan Lavarnway in Tel Aviv are ex-major league players hoping to earn their spot on the Israeli Olympic baseball team. Cubs pitching analyst heads back to the mound...for Israel By HILLEL KUTTLER He watches film, looking for flaws in competes. He received Israeli citizen- Israel’s pitching coach, stated in inter- pitchers’ deliveries that leave them vul- ship in November. That step, like pitch- views that while Zeid starred on the nerable to shoulder and arm injuries. ing for Israel in the WBC, was “about mound in the past two WBCs, he’d have JOSH ZEID is sipping coffee but crav- On the analyst side, Zeid utilizes the honoring my family, my past. I’m not to knock two years of rust off his arm to ing shakshuka, Israel’s trendy spicy-to- Arizona facility’s high-tech pitching lab the most religious person, so I do it make the club. mato-sauce-and-poached-eggs break- and advanced cameras to help pitchers through sports,” Zeid said. “Every tour- “The question is: can he help our fast, on a recent Friday morning on Tel make their deliveries and repertoire nament I’ve played on with Team Israel team if he’s only a percentage of what Aviv’s Rothschild Street. more consistent. was a life-changing experience.” he was? Unequivocally, yes,” Lorraine Zeid, 32, has an appetite for more His boss, Craig Breslow, the Cubs’ direc- The Arizona complex’s fields, equip- said. If Zeid is ready to go when man- than food. tor of pitching, said Zeid serves “as an ex- ment and staff enable Zeid to train agement evaluates him this winter, “he The Connecticut native, a pitcher, is tension of sorts of our R&D department.” to make Team Israel. It’s been an un- definitely increases our chance to win competing for a place on Israel’s base- “Josh’s ability to wear multiple hats planned path back. After retiring, he a medal.” ball team in next summer’s Olympics in helps to facilitate not just a [pitcher’s] contacted every MLB franchise seek- For a non-baseball culture nation that Tokyo, for which the country clinched return to previous levels but actual ing employment as a pitching coach. A has sent team sport athletes only three a berth last September. Zeid is pursu- improvement,” said Breslow, himself a year ago, the Cubs interviewed Zeid for times prior – twice in soccer, once in ing that goal while fulfilling his day job former MLB hurler and Zeid’s team- a position as a scout—but offered him a basketball – medaling in the Olympics as a pitching analyst and rehabilitation mate on Israel’s 2016–17 World Baseball pitching analyst position instead. would be extraordinary pitching coordinator in the Chicago Classic (WBC) club. After Israel qualified for Tokyo, Zeid The road toward his possibly reach- Cubs organization. Zeid retired as a player a year af- emailed congratulations to Israel Asso- ing Tokyo will be “a lot more emo- For that position, which he began ter his heroic turn pitching Israel to a ciation of Baseball president Peter Kurz, tional,” Zeid said. “I’ll learn a lot more last winter, Zeid moved with his fam- surprising No. 6 showing in that WBC. who offered Zeid an opportunity to about myself.” n ily from Houston, where he had been a He yielded no runs in 10 innings across pitch his way onto the Olympics squad. relief pitcher for the Astros, to Arizona, three relief appearances and one start, Zeid gingerly approached the Cubs, Hillel Kuttler’s feature articles have near the Cubs’ training complex. saved two games, won another and concerned that the organization would appeared in The New York Times, The Zeid works with the Cubs’ athletic earned a WBC all-star selection. think he was neglecting his coaching Washington Post, and The Wall Street trainers to design throwing regimens Like any Olympian, Zeid must be job; management supported him. Journal. He can be reached at hk@Hil- for pitchers recovering from injuries. a citizen of the country for which he Kurz and Andrew Lorraine, Team lelTheScribeCommunications.com. 48 Jan/Feb 2020, JUF News.