Lee Louis Mazzilli, Jr. (born September 6, 1990), known as L. J. Mazzilli, 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 ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. Prior to playing professionally, he played for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He is the son of former All-Star outfielder

Lee Mazzilli Lee Louis Mazzilli (born March 25, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the New York Mets, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirat ...

Amateur career

Mazzilli was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

. He played Little League Baseball there, and won a Little League

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

derby at the age of 12. Mazzilli began his high school career at

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...

, where he found that

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

received more prominence. He transferred to

Iona Preparatory School Iona Preparatory School, or simply Iona Prep, is an independent, Catholic, all-male, college-preparatory school located in the north end of New Rochelle, New York, in suburban Westchester County. It consists of the Upper School for Grades 9 thr ...

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

, which has a stronger baseball program. As schools in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

receive less attention for baseball than schools in warmer climates, Mazzilli transferred to

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

, for his senior year. After graduating from IMG, Mazzilli enrolled at the

, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Connecticut Huskies baseball The UConn Huskies baseball team represents the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, Connecticut, in college baseball. The program is classified as NCAA Division I, and the team competes in the Big East Conference. The team is coached by Jim Pende ...

team along with teammate

George Springer George Chelston Springer III (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Houston Astros from 2014 to 2020. Springer has played primarily i ...

. The Huskies had

Nick Ahmed Nicholas Mark Ahmed (born March 15, 1990) is an American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Die ...

playing shortstop, so they played Mazzilli as a

. He had a .312

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

as a freshman, and a .338 average as a sophomore. In 2010 and 2011, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, and returned to the league in 2012 to play for the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park (ballpark) ...

. The Minnesota Twins selected Mazzilli in the ninth round, with the 280th overall selection, of the 2012 MLB draft, Believing that he should have been selected earlier in the draft, and that he was not a priority to the Twins, he did not sign, even though the Twins offered Mazzilli a signing bonus twice as large as the $130,000 recommended for the slot. Returning to Connecticut for his senior year, Mazzilli had a .354 average with 51 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.

Professional career

New York Mets

The New York Mets selected Mazzilli in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft, with the 116th overall selection, and he signed. After signing, Mazzilli made his professional debut with the Brooklyn Cyclones of the Class A-Short Season, Low–A New York–Penn League. He hit .278 in 70 games for Brooklyn, and appeared in the New York–Penn League's All-Star Game. In 2014, he began the season with the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class A (baseball), Single–A South Atlantic League (SAL). After he batted .292 with seven home runs, 45 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases, and appeared in the SAL All-Star Game, the Mets promoted him to the St. Lucie Mets of the Class A-Advanced, High–A Florida State League in June. He also appeared in a game for the Las Vegas 51s of the Class AAA, Triple–A Pacific Coast League (PCL) during the PCL playoffs. During the 2014–15 offseason, Minor League Baseball suspended Mazzilli for the first 50 games of the 2015 season for his second positive test for a "drug of abuse". He played for Binghamton in 2015 after his suspension ended, and in 2016. In August 2016, the Mets promoted Mazzilli to the Las Vegas 51s of the Class AAA, Triple–A Pacific Coast League. In 122 games split between the two affiliates, he hit .239/.320/.348 with 5 home runs and 43 RBI. Mazzilli split the 2017 season between Binghamton and Las Vegas, batting a cumulative .254/.340/.362 with 5 home runs, 40 RBI, and 9 stolen bases in 110 contests.

New York Yankees

On April 10, 2018, the Mets traded Mazzilli to the New York Yankees in exchange for Kendall Coleman. He spent the season with the Triple–A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, batting .244/.315/.400 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI in 79 games. On March 29, 2019, Mazzilli was released from his minor league contract.

Long Island Ducks

On May 5, 2019, Mazzilli signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 122 games for Long Island, he hit .294/.351/.435 with 13 home runs, 74 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. He became a free agent following the season.

Chicago White Sox

On December 9, 2019, Mazzilli signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mazzilli was released by the White Sox organization on June 18, 2020.

Long Island Ducks (second stint)

On April 13, 2021, Mazzilli signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 101 games, he put up a slash line of .303/.381/.440 with 11 home runs, 69 RBI, and 19 stolen bases. On April 12, 2022, Mazzilli re–signed with the Ducks for the 2022 season. In 102 games, he hit .263/.380/.388 with another 11 home runs, 46 RBI, and 21 stolen bases.

Personal life

Mazzilli's father,

has played, coached, and managed in Major League Baseball. His mother, Dani, tossed balls for L. J. to hit in their yard while Lee was with his MLB team. His sisters, Jenna and Lacey, also graduated from Connecticut. Lacey is his twin.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazzilli, L. J. 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut Baseball players from Fairfield County, Connecticut Baseball second basemen Children of baseball players UConn Huskies baseball players Wareham Gatemen players Bourne Braves players Brooklyn Cyclones players 21st-century American sportsmen Iona Preparatory School alumni Savannah Sand Gnats players St. Lucie Mets players Las Vegas 51s players Scottsdale Scorpions players Binghamton Rumble Ponies players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players American people of Italian descent Long Island Ducks players Greenwich High School alumni