Matthew Francis Szczur (; born July 20, 1989) 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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) debut with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in 2014 and also played for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Prior to his pro baseball career, Szczur played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

, winning MVP of the 2009 FCS National Championship Game.

Early life

Szczur was born in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, and grew up in the Erma section of

Lower Township, New Jersey Lower Township is a township (New Jersey), township in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City, New Jersey, Ocean City metropolitan statis ...

. He attended Lower Cape May Regional High School, where he earned varsity letters in football, baseball, and track and field. Szczur was drafted in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft out of high school by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the 38th round, but decided to attend

instead.

College career

Szczur played both football and baseball for the Villanova Wildcats.

Football

, Szczur played wide receiver, running back,

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

quarterback and was a return specialist on special teams. During his junior season, he was a consensus All-American and was named the CAA Offensive Player of the Year as Villanova went on to win its first-ever FCS National Championship. In the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, he gained 270 all-purpose yards and was awarded MVP honors.

Baseball

In baseball, Szczur served as an outfielder and catcher for the Wildcats. After sitting out his freshman year due to a football-related injury, he hit .392 (142-362) with 62 RBI and 28 stolen bases over the next two seasons. During his junior season, he was a First Team All-

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

selection and named the

Philadelphia Big 5 The Philadelphia Big 5, known simply as the "Big 5", is an association of six college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’ ...

player of the year for baseball.

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

Minor leagues

Szczur signed a contract with the

organization, who drafted him in the fifth-round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He received a $100,000 signing bonus, with an additional $500,000 if he declined to attend the

NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and made a written commitment to baseball before February 10, 2011. He was assigned to the club's short season Low–A affiliate, the

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near ...

, and first appeared in uniform July 8, 2010. He was then promoted to the club's Single–A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs on July 27, 2010. Szczur hit .347/.414/.465 10 RBI and two stolen bases across 25 total games in 2010. After the 2010 season, Szczur committed to baseball and signed a $1.5 million deal with the Cubs in January 2011. As he was released from his initial contract and signed a new contract to receive the bonus, he would have been eligible in the 2011

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

if not added to the Cubs'

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

. On July 9, 2011, Szczur was assigned to the High–A Daytona Cubs. He finished the year batting .293 in 109 games between Peoria and Daytona. On July 27, 2012, he was promoted to the Double–A

Tennessee Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

. He slashed .267/.360/.390 in 113 games between Tennessee and Daytona in 2012. In 2013, Szczur returned to Tennessee where he hit .281/.350/.367 with three home runs and 44 RBI. He began the 2014 season with the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

before being promoted to the Major League roster.

Major leagues

On August 16, 2014, Szczur was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the next day. Szczur recorded his first Major League hit on August 21 against Madison Bumgarner of the

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

. He recorded his first career home run on September 13 against Justin Wilson of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. Szczur split time during the 2015 season between Triple–A and the Majors, ultimately being called up by the Cubs on seven occasions. He finished the year hitting .222/.278/.333 in 47 major league games. On April 29, 2016, he hit his first career Major League grand slam against Chris Withrow of 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

in the 8th inning, putting the Cubs up 6–1. In 2016, Szczur played in 107 games batting .259 with five home runs and 24 RBI. Szczur made no appearances during the Cubs World Series run nor was he on the World Series roster, but still earned his first career championship. Szczur was designated for assignment by the Cubs after only playing in 15 games on May 6, 2017.

San Diego Padres

The Cubs traded Szczur to the

in exchange for Justin Hancock on May 8, 2017. Szczur played in 104 games for San Diego in 2017, batting .227/.358/.364 with three home runs and 15 RBI. In 2018 with San Diego, Szczur hit .187 in 57 games. On July 1, 2018, he was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by San Diego and sent outright to the Triple–A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team based in El Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Sou ...

. He declared free agency on October 2.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 14, 2018, Szczur signed a minor league contract with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

organization. Szczur spent the year with the Triple-A Reno Aces, also playing in 3 games for the AZL Diamondbacks, slashing .313/.380/.569 with eight home runs and 29 RBI. He elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Philadelphia Phillies

Szczur signed a minor league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

on December 13, 2019, with an invite to major-league spring training camp. Szczur did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Szczur was released by the Phillies organization on June 28, 2020.

St. Louis Cardinals

On February 13, 2021, Szczur signed a minor league contract with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

organization that included an invitation to Spring Training. In 30 games with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, Szczur hit only .186/.236/.382 with five home runs and 11 RBI. Szczur was released by the Cardinals organization on June 28, 2021. On March 7, 2022, Szczur announced his retirement from professional baseball.

Personal

In 2009, Szczur donated

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

to a 15-month-old Ukrainian girl named Anastasia battling

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. Szczur essentially saved the girl's life given the severity of her condition and how hard it would have been to find another person that was a match for bone marrow. He met the healthy 4-year-old girl and her parents via

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

using a translator who was present at Anastasia's house. It was documented in E:60 ''Risking it All'', which is one of ESPN's E:60 presentations. Szczur and his wife, Natalie, were married in November 2014 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szczur, Matt 1989 births Living people People from Lower Township, New Jersey People from Middle Township, New Jersey Baseball players from Cape May County, New Jersey Players of American football from Cape May County, New Jersey American people of Polish descent American football wide receivers Chicago Cubs players San Diego Padres players Villanova Wildcats baseball players Villanova Wildcats football players Boise Hawks players Daytona Cubs players Peoria Chiefs players Tennessee Smokies players Iowa Cubs players El Paso Chihuahuas players Reno Aces players Mesa Solar Sox players Memphis Redbirds players