Blake Thomas Lalli (born May 12, 1983) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player and current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

for the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Playing career

Amateur

Lalli graduated from

Pine-Richland High School Pine-Richland High School is a large public high school located at 700 Warrendale Road, in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Pine-Richland School District and is located in Pine Township. In the 2018–2 ...

Gibsonia, Pennsylvania Gibsonia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Richland Township, Allegheny County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, north of the city of Pittsburgh. It had a population of 2,733 at the 2010 Census. Its ZIP code is 1504 ...

, in 2001. He attended

Gardner–Webb University Gardner–Webb University (Gardner–Webb, GWU, or GW) is a private Christian liberal arts university in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. It was founded as Boiling Springs High School in 1905. Gardner-Webb is a classified among "Doctoral/Profes ...

from 2002 through 2006, where he played for the school's baseball team. Lalli was named to the All-

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...

's first team as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in 2005 and as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

in 2006. In 2005, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Chicago Cubs

Undrafted out of college, Lalli signed with the Chicago Cubs as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2006. He was named a Southern League All-Star in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Cubs promoted Lalli to MLB on May 18, 2012, and he made his MLB debut that day. He became the first GWU alumnus to appear in MLB.

Oakland Athletics

On August 27, 2012, the Athletics acquired Lalli from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for catcher Anthony Recker.

Milwaukee Brewers

On November 14, 2012, the Milwaukee Brewers signed Lalli to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. On April 9, 2013, Lalli's contract was purchased and he was added to the Major League roster by the Brewers. He was designated for assignment on September 19, 2013 and became a free agent on October 1.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Lalli signed a minor league deal with the

in October 2013. He became a minor league free agent after the 2014 season and on November 26, 2014, he signed a minor league deal to return with the team.

Atlanta Braves

On September 11, 2016, Lalli was called up from AAA

Gwinnett Braves The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

to the Atlanta Braves. He was released on May 13, 2017.

Second Stint With Diamondbacks

On June 7, 2017, Lalli signed a minor league deal with the

Managerial career

Kane County Cougars

For the 2018 season, Lalli was named the manager for the

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play thei ...

, the single-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks.

Jackson Generals

After one year in the Chicago suburbs, he left to become manager of the

Jackson Generals The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mari ...

for the 2019 season. In one season with the Generals, Lalli led the team to their third championship in the last four seasons in the Southern League.

Reno Aces

On February 1, 2021, Lalli was announced as the new manager for the

. He became the youngest manager in Aces history and first to be a former player.

Personal

Lalli resides in

Boiling Springs, North Carolina Boiling Springs is a town in Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States and is located in the westernmost part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, located approximately 50 miles away from the city. As of the 2010 census, the town's popula ...

during the baseball

offseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalli, Blake 1983 births Living people People from Richland Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania Major League Baseball catchers Chicago Cubs players Milwaukee Brewers players Atlanta Braves players Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs baseball players Harwich Mariners players Iowa Cubs players Boise Hawks players Peoria Chiefs players Daytona Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Caribes de Anzoátegui players Sacramento River Cats players Nashville Sounds players Reno Aces players Gwinnett Braves players Pine-Richland High School alumni Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area People from Boiling Springs, North Carolina Minor league baseball managers American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela