Patrick Mazeika

Patrick Alan Mazeika (born October 14, 1993) is an American professional baseball catcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Amateur career[]

A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Mazeika played college baseball at Stetson University. In 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL),^[1] and returned to the CCBL in 2014 to play for the Chatham Anglers.^[2]

Professional career[]

Mazeika was drafted by the New York Mets in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft as the 239th pick in the eighth round. He started playing in the Mets organization in 2015 with the Kingsport Mets then was promoted to the Columbia Fireflies in 2016. Mazeika would then split time during the 2017 season with the St. Lucie Mets and, later, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. He would spend the next two seasons in Binghamton before a brief period in 2019 playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League for twenty-five games.

Mazeika was called up to the majors for the first time on August 25, 2020.^[3] He was then demoted to the alternate training site on August 26.^[4] Mazeika was called up for a second time on August 28,^[5] but was demoted a second time on August 29.

On May 5, 2021, Mazeika was recalled to the majors after Brandon Nimmo was placed on the injured list.^[6] Mazeika made his MLB debut that day as a pinch hitter for Miguel Castro, grounding out to St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in his only at-bat.

On May 7, 2021, in only his second at bat in the big leagues, Mazeika was the hero in the bottom of the 10th inning during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the bases loaded, he hit into a fielder's choice, bringing Pete Alonso at third base home. It was his first walk-off RBI, as well as his first RBI in the MLB. The Mets won the game 5–4, their biggest come-from-behind win of the season.^[7] Then on May 11, during an interleague game against the Baltimore Orioles, Mazeika, in his fourth Major League plate appearance, was the hero again. He had another walk-off fielder's choice ground ball in the bottom of the 9th inning that drove Jonathan Villar in to score, allowing the Mets to prevail 3–2. He is the first player since RBI became official in 1920 with multiple walk-off RBI within his first four career games.^[8] His first hit came on May 16, 2021, when he hit a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays.

References[]

External links[]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)