Thomas Mathew Szapucki (born June 12, 1996) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

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). He was selected by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the fifth round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks ...

, and made his MLB debut with them in 2021.

Career

Amateur career

Szapucki attended

William T. Dwyer High School William T. Dwyer High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school for grades 9–12 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, United States. The school was named for William T. Dwyer, former vice president of Pratt & Whitney's Governm ...

Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

. He signed with the Mets for a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $375,000, forgoing his commitment to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Professional career

New York Mets

Szapucki made his professional debut in 2015 with the

Gulf Coast Mets The Florida Complex League Mets are a Rookie-level affiliate for the New York Mets, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Mets. The team plays its home games a ...

. He started 2016 with the

Kingsport Mets The Kingsport Mets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League from 1921 to 2020. They were located in Kingsport, Tennessee, and were last named for the team's major league affiliate, the New York Mets. The team played its home ...

, and was promoted to the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

during the season. Szapucki finished 2016 with a combined 4-3 record and 1.38 ERA in 52 total

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, with a 0.885 WHIP and 14.9 strikeouts per 9 innings, between the two teams. He was named a ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' Rookie All-Star. He spent 2017 with the

Columbia Fireflies The Columbia Fireflies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Columbia, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Their home stadium is Segra Park. The team was previously known as the ...

, posting a 1-2 record, 2.79 ERA, and a 1.17 WHIP over 29 innings before undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

in July, thus ending his season.

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

ranked Szapucki as New York's fifth-ranked prospect going into the 2018 season. He missed all of 2018 due to undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned to play in 2019 with Columbia, before being promoted to the

St. Lucie Mets The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members ...

in July, and to the

Binghamton Rumble Ponies The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mira ...

in August. Over 21 games (18 starts) between the three clubs, he went 1-3 with a 2.63 ERA, striking out 72 over innings, with a 1.216 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per 9 innings. Szapucki was added to the Mets 40–man roster following the 2019 season. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by 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 ...

. On May 27, 2021, Szapucki was promoted to the major leagues for the first time, but was optioned down to the Triple-A

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which open ...

the next day without making an appearance. He was recalled to the active roster and promoted to the majors a second time on June 29. He made his MLB debut the next day, pitching in relief against 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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, but allowed six runs in four and two-thirds innings. He was optioned back to Syracuse two days later. On July 13, it was announced that Szapucki would require ulnar nerve transposition surgery, ending his rookie campaign at one appearance. Szapucki was again promoted to the active roster on May 25, 2022, starting against the

on that day. He pitched one and one-third innings, allowing nine earned runs, in his only appearance with the Mets for the season. With AAA Syracuse in 2022, he was 2-6 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 games (16 starts), in which he pitched 64 innings and struck out 87 batters.

San Francisco Giants

On August 2, 2022, Szapucki, Carson Seymour, Nick Zwack, and

J. D. Davis Jonathan Gregory "J.D." Davis, nicknamed Dizzie (born April 27, 1993) is an American professional baseball third baseman and left fielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at California State ...

were traded to the

for

Darin Ruf Darin Cortland Ruf (born July 28, 1986) is an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Ruf was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and played at Westside High Sch ...

. In 2022 with AAA Sacramento he was 0-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 8.1 innings in which he struck out 15 batters. In 2022 with the Giants he was 0-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 13.2 innings in which he struck out 16 batters.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szapucki, Thomas 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Toms River, New Jersey Baseball players from New Jersey Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players San Francisco Giants players Gulf Coast Mets players Brooklyn Cyclones players Kingsport Mets players Columbia Fireflies players Binghamton Rumble Ponies players St. Lucie Mets players Syracuse Mets players