Marc Rzepczynski

Marc Rzepczynski
St. Louis Cardinals — No. 34
Pitcher
Born: August 29, 1985 (1985-08-29) (age 26) Yorba Linda, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
July 7, 2009 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through August 17, 2011)
Win–Loss	8-11
Earned Run Average	3.89
Strikeouts	156
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2009–2011) St. Louis Cardinals (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2011)

Marc Walter Rzepczynski (English pronunciation: /zəpˈtʃɪnski/ zəp-chin-skee; born August 29, 1985 in Yorba Linda, California) is an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Toronto Blue Jays blogosphere gave Rzepczynski the nickname "Scrabble".^[1][2]

Amateur career

Rzepcynski attended Servite High School in Anaheim, California and played college baseball at the University of California, Riverside.

He also played for the Corvallis Knights in the West Coast League, an independent summer collegiate league.

Minor league career

In June 2007, Rzepczynski was drafted in the fifth round (175th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his professional debut that season for the short-season Jays' Class A affiliate Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League. With Auburn, he posted a 5-0 won-lost record and a 2.76 ERA in 11 games (7 starts), with 49 strikeouts and 17 walks in 45.2 innings pitched.

In 2008, Rzepczynski advanced to the Class A Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League, where he finished 7-6 with a 2.83 ERA in 22 starts, with 124 strikeouts and 42 walks over 121 innings pitched.

In 2009, Rzepczynski through early July had split his season between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Jays' AA team in the Eastern League, and the Las Vegas 51s, the Jays' AAA team in the Pacific Coast League. His 2009 statistics between AA and AAA combined for 16 games (all starts), with a 9-5 record, a 2.66 ERA, 104 strikeouts, and 40 walks, in 88 innings pitched.^[3]

Promotion to Major League Baseball

A series of injuries to pitchers at the major league level had plagued the parent Blue Jays for the first three months of the 2009 season, leading to opportunities for several rookies to advance to the top level. Scott Richmond, himself a rookie starter who had pitched very well for Toronto, became the latest casualty, when he went on the disabled list on July 4, retroactive to July 1, due to biceps tendinitis. Richmond, before play on July 6, ranked 16th of 40 eligible American League pitchers in Earned Run Average (ERA). Brett Cecil, another rookie who is already in the Jays' starting rotation, started on July 5 on short notice in Richmond's stead, against the New York Yankees, but this still left Toronto with only four healthy starters, leading to Rzepczynski's promotion and opportunity.^[4] Rzepczynski pitched solidly in his debut against the defending American League champion Rays, lasting 6 innings, during which he gave up 2 hits and 1 earned run, walked 4, and struck out 7 in a no-decision; the Jays lost 3-1 in 11 innings. In his second big-league start, Rzepczynski again pitched well, but took the loss against the Baltimore Orioles on July 12, lasting 6 innings and allowing 3 earned runs; Toronto lost the game 4-2. Rzepczynski won his first major-league game on July 18, defeating the American League leading Boston Red Sox; he pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out 4; Toronto won 6-2. Jays Manager Cito Gaston stated before the game that Rzepczynski would remain in the rotation for at least the next couple of weeks, pending Richmond's return from the disabled list.

Marc during the 2011 World Series Parade.

He was traded on July 27, 2011, to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson and Corey Patterson for Colby Rasmus, P. J. Walters, Trever Miller and Brian Tallet.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ Visser, Josh (3 April 2010). "2010 Blue Jays preview: Few wins, but future bright(er)". CTVToronto. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20100401/TOR_jays_preview_100403/. Retrieved 2011-05-31. "Youngsters Marc Rzepczynski (nicknamed "Scrabble" for obvious reasons) and Brett Cecil will probably get their shot later in the season." 
2. ^ Lankhof, Bill (21 May 2011). "Everyone knows Rzepczynski now". Edmonton Sun. Toronto Sun. http://www.edmontonsun.com/2011/05/12/everyone-knows-rzepczynski-now. Retrieved 2011-05-31. "Developed the nickname “Scrabble” in the blogosphere in reference to the high score his last name would earn in the board game." 
3. ^ http://lasvegas.51s.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t400&t=p_pbp&pid=519240
4. ^ Rookie lefty Rzepczynski called up, by Jordan Bastian, http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090706&content_id=5728292&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor
5. ^ "Cardinals deal Rasmus to Jays in a three-team mega-deal". Sporting News. http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2011-07-27/colby-rasmus-trade-edwin-jackson-st-louis-cardinals-chicago-white-sox-detroit-ti. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
6. ^ Frenette, Brad. "Blue Jays acquire top prospect Colby Rasmus in three-team deal". Vancouver Sun. http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Blue+Jays+acquire+prospect+Colby+Rasmus+three+team+deal/5167407/story.html. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 

External links

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

Persondata
Name	Rzepczynski, Marc
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 29, 1985
Place of birth	Yorba Linda, California
Date of death
Place of death