Inside the Astros

Houston Astros Pitcher, Former Survivor Contestant Welcome Baby

Astros reliever Ryne Stanek and his wife Jessica Stanek welcomed a baby daughter to the world over the weekend. Jessica was a contestant on CBS' hit reality show, 'Survivor'.

Jack Vita

Houston Astros Pitcher, Former Survivor Contestant Welcome Baby
Houston Astros Pitcher, Former Survivor Contestant Welcome Baby /
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Houston expanded their family over the weekend, with the addition of an Astros baby.

Astros reliever Ryne Stanek is now a father of two, as his wife Jessica gave birth to a son named Rowan Thomas. The couple celebrated the birth of their son on Instagram Saturday afternoon.

"We would like to welcome to the world our little man Rowan Thomas," Ryne Stanek wrote in an Instagram post. "Can’t wait to watch you grow up with your big sister. We love you more then you’ll ever know."

Ryne was placed on the paternity list on Friday, with the Astros recalling Seth Martinez from Triple-A Sugar Land, taking his place.

The Staneks welcomed their first child, a daughter named Joelle, two years ago.

Before the couple met each other, Ryne's wife Jessica competed on the 37th season of CBS' hit reality competition show Survivor, Survivor: David vs. Goliath, which aired in fall 2018. She was the second contestant voted out, finishing in 19th place.

Ryne isn't the only Astros pitcher married to a former reality television contestant. JP France's wife Jessica was a cast member on MTV's The Real World: Portland, and competed on four seasons of MTV's The Challenge. 

Hours before the start of Friday's game, JP was scratched from his start in Arizona, due to a family emergency. Jose Urquidy made a spot start in his place, picking up his first win since April.

Per Major League Baseball's rules, a player that is placed on the paternity list must remain there for at least 24 hours, but no more than 72 hours. Stanek did not return to the Astros for Sunday's game, but he should be returning to the club very soon for the postseason.

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Jack Vita
JACK VITA

Jack Vita is a writer and contributor to Sports Illustrated's Inside the Astros, and host of the Jack Vita Show, a popular sports podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever podcasts are found. Jack is a 2017 graduate of Valparaiso University, in northwest Indiana. Since completing his degree, Jack has created his own independent sports media outlet (JackVita.com) and podcast (the Jack Vita Show). He has featured prominent guests from the worlds of sports and entertainment including Brian Urlacher, Scot Pollard, Bob Nightengale, Dan O'Dowd, and Survivor icons Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields, Danni Boatwright and "the Dragon Slayer", Coach Benjamin Wade. While studying at Valparaiso, Jack was the school newspaper's beat writer for the Valpo Crusaders men's basketball team, which won three straight Horizon League championships from 2015-2017. Traveling to cover the team, Jack had a front row seat to one of the nation's best mid-major teams, headlined by future NBA Draft pick Alec Peters and coached by NCAA Tournament hero Bryce Drew. Jack hosted a weekly sports radio show and provided play-by-play and color commentary services for ESPN 3 and the university's student radio station, WVUR-FM, 95.1 The Source, covering Valparaiso men's soccer, women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Jack also covered these sports, in addition to men's and women's tennis, baseball and women's soccer for the school newspaper, The Torch. While he was in college, Jack interned for and co-hosted Jewell On Sports, a sports radio program on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There, he interviewed various pro athletes such as Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Javier Arenas, in addition to talking sports with the late, great Brad Jewell. Jack also interned for 22nd Century Media, a now defunct newspaper corporation that provided news to the North Shore of Chicago. With 22nd Century Media, Jack wrote post-game recaps, feature stories about local athletes, reviews of local restaurants and compiled the newspaper's "Pet of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" sections, while providing copy-editing services. Before attending Valparaiso, Jack enrolled at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he studied for two years before transferring. He is a high school graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackVitaShow, subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, wherever podcasts are found, and reach him via email at jack@jackvita.com.

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