Zachary "Zach" Craig Lutz (born June 3, 1986) 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 ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

. He previously played in

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) for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

and the

Doosan Bears The Doosan Bears () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and play their home game ...

of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League () and KBO Futures League ( (F ...

Early life

Lutz was born on June 3, 1986, in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

. He attended

Governor Mifflin Senior High School Governor Mifflin Senior High School is the only high school in the Governor Mifflin School District. Named for the Revolutionary War major and first governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin, it is located in Shillington, Berks County, Pennsyl ...

Shillington, Pennsylvania Shillington is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 5,475 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the borough is nestled amongst other suburbs outside Reading, Penn ...

, then

Alvernia University Alvernia University is a Private university, private Franciscans, Franciscan university in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded as Alvernia College in 1958 by the Bernardine Sisters of St. Francis, the school gained university status in 2008. History ...

in Reading, where his father Yogi was the baseball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Zach played third base for the Alvernia Crusaders of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (now known as the

Colonial States Athletic Conference The Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) was an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Mid-Atlantic United States that existed from 1992 to 2023. There were nine full member institutions when the conference. The conferenc ...

). He earned preseason All-American honors prior to his 2007 junior year.

Professional career

New York Mets

In the 2007 Major League Baseball draft, Lutz was chosen in the 5th round by the

, and subsequently spent time in the Mets minor league system. In the 2010 baseball season, Lutz played for the

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...

and

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, the Mets' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, despite missing around sixty days due to a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

in his left foot. In 61 games for Binghamton, Lutz hit 17 home runs, finishing with a .967

OPS OPS may refer to: Organizations * Obscene Publications Squad, a former unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England * Oceanic Preservation Society * Office of Public Safety, a former US government agency * Orchestre philharmonique de Strasb ...

. At the end of the season, Lutz was promoted to Buffalo where he played five games, finishing with one home run while hitting to a .300

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 ...

. Prior to the 2011 season, the

placed Lutz on the

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 ...

to protect him from the

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 ...

. On April 24, 2012, Lutz made his major league debut against the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

, striking out in his one at-bat. Lutz got his first major league hit on April 27, 2012, in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

against the

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

. On September 1, 2012, Lutz was recalled by the Mets and then was sent back to Triple-A. He was again recalled on June 23, 2013, to fill in for

Lucas Duda Lucas Christopher Duda (born February 3, 1986) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2010 to 2019 for the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, and Kansas City Royals. H ...

. He joined fellow

alum

Anthony Recker Anthony Vito Recker (born August 29, 1983) is an American broadcaster and former professional baseball catcher and first baseman. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and Atla ...

on the team.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Lutz was released by the Mets on June 11, 2014, so that he could sign with the

of the

Nippon Professional Baseball League is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

Second Stint With Mets

Lutz signed a minor league deal with the Mets on July 16, 2015.

Miami Marlins

Lutz signed a minor league deal with the Marlins on February 3, 2016. He was released on June 20, 2016.

Somerset Patriots

Lutz signed with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

on March 1, 2017. He announced his retirement within a few weeks.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutz, Zach Living people 1986 births New York Mets players Alvernia Golden Wolves baseball players Brooklyn Cyclones players Binghamton Mets players St. Lucie Mets players Gulf Coast Mets players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Las Vegas 51s players Baseball players from Reading, Pennsylvania Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players 21st-century American sportsmen Doosan Bears players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in South Korea New Orleans Zephyrs players Estrellas Orientales players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Somerset Patriots players