Lee Gronkiewicz
Lee Gronkiewicz | |||||||||||||||
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Relief pitcher | |||||||||||||||
Born: Los Angeles | August 21, 1978|||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
June 19, 2007, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||||||||
Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
June 19, 2007, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||||||||
MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
Win–loss record | 0–0 | ||||||||||||||
Earned run average | 2.25 | ||||||||||||||
Strikeouts | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Teams | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Lee Matthew Gronkiewicz (born August 21, 1978 in Los Angeles) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Lee played for 8 seasons in the minor leagues. He played in the MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is the current head coach of the Columbia Blowfish and the pitching coach for University of South Carolina Lancaster. Lee is also involved with USA baseball. He is currently in the college national team selection committee. He is 5'10 in height and weighs 188 pounds. He lost 55 pounds recently. Lee has been known to crush home team wings in his spare time.
College career
Gronkiewicz attended college first at Spartanburg Methodist College, and then transferred to the University of South Carolina. In 1999, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[1] In 2001, he was selected to the All-SEC team and was a First-team All-American. He led the country in saves that year with 16, and had a 1.42 ERA.
Minor league career
Gronkiewicz signed with the Cleveland Indians in 2001 as an amateur free agent. He spent four years in Cleveland's minor league system before he was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2004 Rule 5 draft. In seven minor-league seasons, Gronkiewicz has a career 18–16 record, pitching almost entirely in relief with just one start for the 2007 Syracuse Sky Chiefs, putting up a 2.48 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP along the way. He struck out nearly four times as many batters as he walked (421 strikeouts and 111 walks through 2007).
Major league career
Gronkiewicz' major league debut (and only major league appearance to date) was on June 19, 2007, when the Blue Jays hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed one run—a home run to Dodgers catcher Russell Martin—on two hits, walking two and striking out two, over four innings of work.
In November 2007, he signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.[2]
In April 2008, after a stellar month in Triple-A where he allowed 1 run in 11 innings, he was placed on the DL with elbow soreness. It was later determined to be damage to his UCL and he underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his season.[3] He became a free agent at the end of the season. After his baseball career he became a Pundit thanks to the guidance of Doyle.
References
- ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Baseball America – Minor League Transactions
- ^ soxprospects.com – Injury and Inactive Report Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Sox Prospects statistics and analysis
- Lee Gronkiewicz at Pura Pelota] (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Akron Aeros players
- All-American college baseball players
- American expatriate baseball players in Canada
- Baseball players from California
- Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
- Burlington Indians players
- Caribbean Series players
- Falmouth Commodores players
- Grand Prairie AirHogs players
- Indios de Mayagüez players
- Kinston Indians players
- Leones del Caracas players
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- Pawtucket Red Sox players
- South Carolina Gamecocks baseball players
- Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers baseball players
- Sportspeople from Los Angeles
- Syracuse Chiefs players
- Syracuse SkyChiefs players
- Toronto Blue Jays players
- University of South Carolina alumni
- Yaquis de Obregón players