Jeremiah Lee Accardo (born December 8, 1981) 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 ...

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 ...

and coach. 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

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 Y ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

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 Fi ...

, and Oakland Athletics. He later was the assistant pitching coach for 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 ...

of MLB before joining the Milwaukee Brewers' minor league organization as a coach. Prior to playing professionally, Accardo attended

Mesa High School Mesa High School is a public high school in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Mesa High School currently accommodates grades 9–12 as part of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa High School is the oldest high school in Mesa, Arizona, and is home of the Jackr ...

and later

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

Accardo signed as an undrafted free agent by the

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in 2003 after attending

. He made his major league debut on May 4, 2005, pitching one perfect inning in relief against 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 finished the season with a 3.94 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, nine walks and 16 strikeouts in innings of work. In , Accardo was briefly the team's closer when

Armando Benítez Armando Benítez (born November 3, 1972) is a Dominican former major league relief pitcher. Benítez debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 1994 and within a few years became their closer. He was a reliever for several other organizations after Ba ...

suffered an ankle injury. Jeremy Accardo

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 21, 2006, Accardo was traded to the

for third baseman

Shea Hillenbrand Shea Matthew Hillenbrand (born July 27, 1975) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Gia ...

and relief pitcher

Vinnie Chulk Charles Vincent "Vinnie" Chulk (born December 19, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He is of Cuban heritage. Early life Chulk played baseball at the Perrine Khoury League throughout much of his childhood, and graduated in 19 ...

, where he finished the season. In 2006, he posted a combined 5.35 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 20 walks and 54 strikeouts in 69 innings of work. In , Accardo took the role of closer from

Jason Frasor Jason Andrew Frasor (born August 9, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He made his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004, and had a 4.08 ERA in 63 games. He also played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, ...

, who had only become the closer due to an elbow injury sustained by B. J. Ryan. He began the season posting 21 consecutive scoreless innings until allowing three runs on May 26, 2007, in a game against the Minnesota Twins. On September 28, he recorded his 30th save of the year. Accardo missed much of the 2008 season because of injury. He had a good spring training in 2009 but did not make the Toronto Blue Jays 25-man roster out of camp. He started the season at Triple A with the Las Vegas 51s. On June 18, his contract was purchased by Toronto to replace the injured

Scott Downs Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

. At the time, the Blue Jays' pitching staff continued to be hit by a string of injuries. He made his first 2009 major league appearance that day against the Philadelphia Phillies in an 8–7 victory and earned the save. After making 31 appearances for the Jays over 2009–2010, Toronto did not tender a contract to Accardo prior to the 2010 non-tender deadline, thereby making him a free agent.

Baltimore Orioles

On December 14, 2010, Accardo signed a one-year deal worth $1.08 million with the

. On June 18, 2011, Accardo was designated for assignment. He finished the season with a 5.73 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in 31 appearances, and elected free agency on October 11.

Cleveland Indians

Accardo signed a minor-league contract with the

on January 19, 2012. He was invited to the Indians' spring training camp, but did not make the Opening Day roster. His contract was purchased by the Indians' on May 14, 2012. Accardo was designated for assignment on August 5, 2012, to make room on the roster for Chris Seddon and was released on August 9.

Oakland Athletics

On August 15, 2012, he signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics and was assigned to the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

. On September 23, the Athletics selected his contract from Sacramento, and he made his final major league appearance to date, allowing two runs in two innings against the Texas Rangers on September 27. On October 18, 2012, the Athletics announced that Accardo had cleared waivers and elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Later playing career

On February 5, 2013, Accardo signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

. He was released on June 26, 2013, after struggling at Triple-A Syracuse, where he posted a 5.16 ERA in 22 innings. Accardo began the 2014 season pitching for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball before being released. He later signed with the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

to finish out the season, posting a combined 4.40 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 60 appearances. On February 26, 2015, Accardo signed a minor league contract with the

. He was released on March 30.

Coaching career

Accardo was the pitching coach for 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 ...

in 2017. He served as the bullpen coach for the Las Vegas 51s in 2018. Accardo served as the Mets minor league pitching coordinator in 2019, and as a pitching strategist on the major league staff starting in June 2019. From 2020 to 2021, he was the Mets' assistant pitching coach. Accardo was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers to serve as the pitching coach for their Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds, in 2022.

Pitching style

Accardo has four pitches. He leads with a

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the hardest (i.e., fastest) ball thrown by a pitcher. It is c ...

at 90–92 mph and his main off-speed pitch is a splitter from 84 to 86 mph. He also features a

two-seam fastball A two-seam fastball is a pitch in baseball and softball. It is a variant of the straight fastball. The pitch has the speed of a fastball and can also include late-breaking action caused by varying the pressure of the index and middle fingers on t ...

(90–92) and a cutter (89–91). Right-handed hitters see his full repertoire, but he does not throw the cutter to left-handed hitters. Accardo relies heavily on the splitter with two strikes.

Personal life

Accardo's daughter, Leighton, was diagnosed with germ cell cancer in 2019. She died on November 24, 2020, at the age of nine.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accardo, Jeremy 1981 births Living people Águilas de Mexicali players Baseball coaches from Arizona American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Arizona Baltimore Orioles players Bridgeport Bluefish players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players Dunedin Blue Jays players Fresno Grizzlies players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Illinois State Redbirds baseball players Las Vegas 51s players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Mesa Solar Sox players Minor league baseball coaches New York Mets coaches Norfolk Tides players Norwich Navigators players Oakland Athletics players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players Sportspeople from Mesa, Arizona Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players Mesa High School alumni