Lee Gronkiewicz


Lee Matthew Gronkiewicz is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Lee played for 8 seasons in the minor leagues. He played in the MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is the current head coach of the Columbia Blowfish and the pitching coach for University of South Carolina Lancaster. Lee is also involved with USA baseball. He is currently in the college national team selection committee. He is 5'10 in height and weighs 188 pounds. He lost 55 pounds recently. Lee has been known to crush home team wings in his spare time.

College career

Gronkiewicz attended college first at Spartanburg Methodist College, and then transferred to the University of South Carolina. In 1999, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In, he was selected to the All-SEC team and was a First-team All-American. He led the country in saves that year with 16, and had a 1.42 ERA.

Minor league career

Gronkiewicz signed with the Cleveland Indians in as an amateur free agent. He spent four years in Cleveland's minor league system before he was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rule 5 draft. In seven minor-league seasons, Gronkiewicz has a career 18–16 record, pitching almost entirely in relief with just one start for the Syracuse Sky Chiefs, putting up a 2.48 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP along the way. He struck out nearly four times as many batters as he walked.

Major league career

Gronkiewicz' major league debut was on June 19,, when the Blue Jays hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed one run—a home run to Dodgers catcher Russell Martin—on two hits, walking two and striking out two, over four innings of work.
In November 2007, he signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.
In April, after a stellar month in Triple-A where he allowed 1 run in 11 innings, he was placed on the DL with elbow soreness. It was later determined to be damage to his UCL and he underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his season. He became a free agent at the end of the season. After his baseball career he became a Pundit thanks to the guidance of Doyle.