Jeremiah Lee Accardo (born December 8, 1981) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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and coach. He played in

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(MLB) for the

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, and

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. He later was the assistant pitching coach for the

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of MLB before joining the

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' minor league organization as a coach. Prior to playing professionally, Accardo attended Mesa High School and later

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Professional career

San Francisco Giants

Accardo signed as an undrafted free agent by the

of the

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in 2003 after attending

. He made his major league debut on May 4, 2005, pitching one perfect inning in relief against the

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. 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 Germán 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 ...

suffered an ankle injury. Jeremy Accardo

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 21, 2006, Accardo was traded to the

for third baseman Shea Hillenbrand and relief pitcher Vinnie Chulk, 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, 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 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. 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. 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

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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

and was assigned to the Triple-A

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. 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

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. 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

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before being released. He later signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish 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

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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

to serve as the pitching coach for their Triple-A affiliate, the

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, in 2022. On June 27, 2024, it was announced that Accardo would join the Arizona State Sun Devils Baseball program as the team's pitching coach.

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 (baseball), pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the fastest ball thrown by a pitcher. It is s ...

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 (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 Mesa, 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 Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players Mesa High School alumni Arizona State Sun Devils baseball coaches