Chris Mazza, a 2011 27th-round draft pick, finally made the major leagues in 2019, after pitching for four different organizations and two independent league teams.
“Eight years in the minor leagues. Released twice. Two months of Indy Ball. Yeah, it was crazy,” said Mazza, now a member of the Boston Red Sox’s 40-man roster.
“It wasn’t even a for-sure thing,” Mazza added at JetBlue Park on Thursday. “I was playing taxi (squad). Basically, I flew up to Philly (to meet the Mets there) and they were like, ‘We’re not sure if you’re going to be on the roster or not yet.”
The Mets ultimately added the then-29-year-old rookie — he turned 30 in October — to the 25-man roster June 26. He debuted three days later at Citi Field, allowing one run in four innings against the Braves.
He posted a 5.51 ERA, but a much better 3.52 FIP, in 16 ⅓ innings over nine relief outings. He had just one bad outing (one inning, four runs Aug. 30 at Philadelphia). He posted a 3.52 ERA in his other eight outings.
He has recorded a 3.21 ERA in 157 outings (64 starts) during his minor league career.
The Red Sox claimed the right-handed hurler off waivers from the Mets on Dec. 20. He has two minor league options remaining and so the Red Sox can use him as a versatile depth pitcher who they move back and forth from Triple-A Pawtucket.
That said, the Red Sox, as of right now, have an open fifth spot in their starting rotation after trading David Price. Boston could name a fifth starter or use an opener. The Red Sox are taking an open-minded approach to the open rotation spot.
The Sox view Mazza as a pitcher who can start and open games in addition to relieving.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity to really compete for a fifth starter spot,” Mazza said. “And then if not, hopefully compete for a bullpen spot.”
Mazza moved to Nashville this offseason after getting engaged in October. He had spent every other offseason in Concord, Calif., working with his dad Bob who owns R Mazza Masonry, Inc. The company’s services include brick repair, bricklaying, brickwork, custom stonework installation and decorative wall construction, according to Porch.
“This is the first offseason I didn’t work because I made it up to the big leagues,” he said. “I was up in the big leagues for 51 days.”
The money he made being on a big league roster for 51 days and as a 40-man roster minor leaguer gave him some financial security. He put the brick masonry work aside to prepare for the 2020 season. He pitched 12 innings for Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League.
Minor leaguers not on a 40-man roster make extremely low salaries. Last year’s major league minimum salary of $2,983.87 per day is more than many minor league players earn in a month. Professional baseball players also don’t receive a paycheck during the offseason.
‘I didn’t know I was getting drafted as a pitcher’
The Twins selected him 838th overall out of Menlo College in Atherton, Calif.
“To be honest, I didn’t know I was getting drafted as a pitcher,” Mazza said. “I thought I was going to get drafted as a shortstop for the longest time. I only threw 15 innings my junior year. And that’s basically all the pitching I had done since I was 12. I know I had teams look at me to play short when I first got on the map or the radar of people (scouts). Minnesota said they were only going to take me as a pitcher.
“You go into this thing, not realizing what it actually is,” Mazza added. “You think it’s a lot different. It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah. I’ll maybe take one or two years in the minors and then I’ll be in the big leagues. I doesn’t work like that, which a lot of people don’t realize. A lot of people think — and it’s nobody’s fault or anything — it’s just they don’t know people that are in the system or they’re just the average-joe kind of fan that thinks it’s just Double A, Triple A and the big leagues. No, there’s like six other steps.”
Mazza never lost hope of pitching in the big leagues despite a few major setbacks along the way. He underwent surgery to release his ulnar nerve during his second year of professional ball in 2013. He broke the scaphoid bone in his wrist in 2014.
A 27th-round draft pick standing out in the minors is difficult enough. Mazza was a 27th rounder who pitched only 8 ⅔ innings all season as a 23-year-old in 2013 after beginning the year at Low-A Cedar Rapids.
“After the injury, it does take a little bit more work to get a little bit noticed because you’ve got the next guys coming in (next draft class) and the next guy’s coming in,” he said. “So it’s tough when there’s not a lot invested in you.”
‘I was shocked. I was not expecting that’
The Twins released him July 22, 2015.
“I kind of knew it was coming,” he said. “I had two injuries. I didn’t really pitch much.”
The Marlins called him about four days after the Twins cut him. He signed a minor league deal with Miami.
“I threw really well with them,” Mazza said. “In ’17, I thought I was going to make my debut when I had a 3.01 (ERA). It just never happened. I had a Double A coach that was not very happy about it.”
Storm Davis, who posted a 4.02 ERA in 442 major league games (239 starts) from 1982-94, believed in Mazza and kept him hungry. Davis served as pitching coach for the 2017 Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp when Mazza posted a 3.01 ERA in 28 outings (26 starts).
“He basically told me, ‘Just keep on grinding it because it’s going to make it worth it when you’re in the big leagues because you’re going to pitch in the big leagues. You’ve got a big league sinker. Somebody’s going to realize. It might not be the Marlins. It might be somebody else. Somebody’s going to want you.’ That was a big thing that kind of kept me going.”
The Marlins released him May 19, 2018, after he threw just 6 ⅓ innings for Jacksonville that season.
“I was shocked. I was not expecting that,” Mazza said. “Especially after getting invited to big league camp after the year I had in ’17. And then getting released in May, it just didn’t make sense. And then nobody was calling, which was surprising.”
From there, he pitched in the independent Pacific Association and Atlanta League.
“I went and played about two months of Indy Ball and got picked up by Seattle,” Mazza said. “They left me on the Double-A roster (1.33 ERA, 27 innings) and then the Mets claimed me in the Rule 5. I didn’t even know I could be claimed in the Rule 5 Draft anymore. I thought I was too old.”
‘I felt like I belonged’
“I know I’m old. I’m old,” Mazza admitted.
Sure, 29 is old for a rookie. He’s now 30 trying to break camp with the Red Sox. He never doubted his stuff could play in the major leagues.
“I felt like I belonged when I first got there,” Mazza added. “I feel like that’s kind of the way you’ve got to take it every day. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the big leagues or the minor leagues. You’ve got to take it like you’re a big leaguer. Even though you might not be there, you’ve got to have that kind of mentality because you’re just going to think you’re a minor leaguer and you’re never going to get farther than the minor leagues.”
His pitch mix for the Mets last year consisted of a sinker, cutter slider, changeup and four-seamer, per Statcast.
“Sinker’s gotta be working, first of all,” Mazza said. “If that’s not working it’s going to be tough. I’ve really just have to do a good job of mixing in and out, up and down and changing offspeed. Really pay attention to what guys’ swing paths and tendencies are. And really try to force contact. I’m not a huge strikeout guy. I never have been. I can be at times. But force contact and let my defense do the work because that’s how I’m going to get deeper into games.”
The original article written by Christopher Smith can be found here:
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2020/02/chris-mazzas-road-to-boston-red-sox-40-man-roster-included-brick-masonry-work-with-dad-two-months-of-indy-ball-injuries-getting-released-twice.html