It’s been a great couple of days for the Reed family.
On Monday, July 5, Janie Reed arrived in Japan to prepare for her Olympic debut with the U.S. softball team. Then on Tuesday, July 6 (U.S. time), her husband Jake Reed made his Major League Baseball debut.
After the Los Angeles Dodgers had picked up Jake’s contract earlier that day, he was called to the mound for that night’s game against the Miami Marlins.
Reed pitched two-thirds of an inning in the bottom of the sixth, striking out Garrett Cooper, intentionally walking Jesus Sanchez and allowing two hits and an unearned run; the Marlins won 2-1.
“Can someone please give him a big hug for me???” Janie tweeted, reacting to the Dodgers selecting Jake’s contract.
Her teammates, including 2008 silver medalist Monica Abbott, were sharing their excitement for Jake all day on social media.
Dejah Mulipola, a 2021 Arizona grad, posted clips of her catching for Jake last year during the lockdown period of the pandemic.
Olympic team alternate Keilani Ricketts‘ Instagram story included video of the team chanting, “Jake! Jake! Jake!” as Janie entered the room during breakfast.
The Americans are in Iwakuni, 430-plus miles from Tokyo, where they will play four doubleheaders from July 9-13 and train leading up to the U.S.’ first Olympic game on July 21 against Italy.
Ranked first in the world, the reigning world champion U.S. team is expected to win gold in softball’s return to the Olympic program, but will face stiff competition from host nation and world No. 2 Japan. The U.S. won the sport’s first three Olympic titles before Japan claimed the latest in 2008.
The Reeds, both 28, met and began dating as student-athletes during their freshman year at the University of Oregon in 2011. They were married in November 2017.
“We knew what we were doing when we got married, and we both realized it’s not going to last forever,” Janie told TeamUSA.org in 2020. “It may seem like a long time sometimes when we haven’t seen each other for a month and a half, but there is going to be a time where one of us or both of us are done playing, and it’s going to feel like this time of our lives flew by. So we’re just trying to enjoy the moment.”
Outfielder Janie (née Takeda) has played with the national team since 2015, winning the 2016 and 2018 world titles in that time, plus the 2019 Pan American Games.
Jake played six seasons bouncing around minor league teams under the Minnesota Twins organization after he was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He then played for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, part of the Los Angeles Angels, from November 2020 through June 2021.
Just over a month ago, Jake signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers and recorded a 2.61 ERA with 11 strikeouts in nine games for the Oklahoma City Dodgers.
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Jake Reed, husband of Olympic softball player Janie, makes MLB debut originally appeared on NBCSports.com