Andrew Jerome Maggi (born May 16, 1989) is an American

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

who is a free agent. Maggi is of Italian descent and he played for the Italy national baseball team in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. He has previously 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

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Maggi gained significant attention from both the media and fans in 2023, when after 13 years of playing in the minors, he made his major league debut.

Career

Amateur career

Maggi attended Brophy College Preparatory in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected him in the 47th round of the

2008 MLB draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

, but he did not sign. Maggi enrolled at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

. He was named All-Pac-12 shortstop his sophomore year and was a quarterfinalist for the Brooks Wallace award, given to the nation’s best shortstop.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The

selected Maggi in the 15th round of the

2010 MLB Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pic ...

, and he signed for a $465,000 bonus. Maggi was named to the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team where he hit the game-tying home run in the gold-medal game and was named tournament defensive MVP of the championship against Cuba. Maggi played in the Pirates organization from 2010 through 2014. He was a three-time mid-season all star, including with the Eastern League in 2014.

Los Angeles Angels

Maggi signed with the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

as a minor-league

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 2015. Maggi was named a

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

mid-season all star in the 2015 season for the Double-A Arkansas Travelers, where he had a .242 batting average in 125 games.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 24, 2016, Maggi signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. He split the season between the Double-A

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

and the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, and hit .289 in 110 combined games. Maggi was also a midseason All-Star in the

in 2016. On January 17, 2017, Maggi re–signed with the Dodgers organization on a new minor league contract. In 2017 with Oklahoma City, he played in 84 games and hit .271/.367/.392 with 5 home runs, 29 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. He elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Cleveland Indians

On November 22, 2017, Maggi was signed by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

to a minor-league contract with an invitation to the club's 2018

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

camp. On April 4, 2018, Maggi was suspended 50 games after testing positive for

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

. He elected free agency on November 3, 2018.

Minnesota Twins

On January 16, 2019, Maggi signed a minor-league contract with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

that included an invitation to spring training. He became a free agent following the 2019 season. Maggi was selected as an MILB.com Organizational All Star in 2019, and became a free agent after the season. On December 20, 2019, Maggi re-signed with the Twins. Due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Maggi spent the 2020 season at the alternate training camp for the Twins and became a free agent at the end of the season. On February 8, 2021, Maggi re-signed with the Twins on a minor-league contract. On September 18, 2021, after playing in 86 games for the Triple-A

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

, hitting .261 with 16 home runs and 48

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs), the Twins selected Maggi to their major-league roster. He was optioned back to the Saints on September 20 without appearing in a major-league game, thus making him a "

phantom ballplayer A phantom ballplayer is either a baseball player who is incorrectly listed in source materials as playing in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, often the result of typographical or clerical errors, or a player who spent time on an MLB Major Leag ...

". On October 8, Maggi was outrighted off of the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

. He again became a free agent following the season.

Philadelphia Phillies

On March 8, 2022, Maggi signed a minor-league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. In 66 games with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he batted .209 with 14 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.

Pittsburgh Pirates (second stint)

On August 3, 2022, the Phillies traded Maggi to the

in exchange for cash considerations. He finished the year with the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

, playing in 28 games and compiling a .219/.276/.323 slash line with no home runs, eight RBIs, and eight

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. He elected free agency following the season on November 10. On December 20, 2022, Maggi re-signed with the Pirates organization on a minor league deal. He was assigned to the Double-A Altoona Curve to begin the year, playing in eight games and going 6-for-31 with three RBIs and one stolen base. On April 23, Maggi had his contract selected to the major-league active roster. He made his major league debut against the

on April 26 after 1,154 games in the minor leagues and 3,846

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s, where he pinch-hit for

Andrew McCutchen Andrew Stefan McCutchen (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Philadelphia P ...

, striking out. He was welcomed to the batter's box by a standing ovation from the Pirates fans, who were chanting his name. Home plate umpire, Jeff Nelson, allowed Maggi some time to soak in the moment. His debut at-bat started with a 0–1 count after he swung at his first pitch knocking a ball foul deep into the left field stands before ultimately striking out on a ball in the dirt. The following day, he started at third base, making his fielding debut. Maggi made his first major league assist when he fielded an Austin Barnes groundball and threw to first, ending the top half of the seventh inning. He was replaced in the top of the ninth, ending his first career MLB start going 0-3. Maggi collected his first MLB hit, an RBI single versus the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, on April 29, 2023. On May 5, the Pirates removed Maggi from the 40-man roster and sent him outright to Double-A Altoona. In 36 games for Altoona, he struggled to a .181/.257/.221 with no home runs and 10 RBI. On July 23, Maggi was released by the Pirates organization.

International baseball

2019 08 18 Bosi First Pitch Sud Africa Torneo Baseball Tokyo 2020-15

Maggi played in the Dominican Winter League and

Mexican Pacific Winter League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

during the 2016–17 offseason. Maggi was chosen to represent the Italy national baseball team in the

and the

2019 European Baseball Championship The 2019 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2019 Championship was held September 7–15, 2019, in Bonn and Solingen, Germany. The tournament contributed ...

. He played for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, and was suspended for 12 games for his part in a brawl in that tournament on September 21.

Personal life

Maggi was born to parents Craig and Sara, and was raised with siblings Craig, Taryn, Beau, Joseph, Christian, and Dane; Beau and Joseph also played professional baseball, while Christian played college baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maggi, Drew 1989 births Living people Altoona Curve players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic American people of Italian descent Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Phoenix, Arizona Bradenton Marauders players Columbus Clippers players Estrellas Orientales players Indianapolis Indians players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball infielders Oklahoma City Dodgers players Pensacola Blue Wahoos players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players St. Paul Saints players State College Spikes players Tulsa Drillers players Venados de Mazatlán players West Virginia Power players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 2019 European Baseball Championship players