Patrick Mazeika: Former Mets Back Up Catcher & Short Time Folk Hero (2021 - 2022)

Patrick Alan Mazeika was born October 14th, 1993, in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

The six-foot three left-handed hitter throws right & is a catcher that also plays first base. 

Mazeika attended Stetson University in Deland Florida where he played baseball & also played in the Cape Cod League.

Mazeika was drafted by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 2015 draft. 

In 2015 in the rookie league, he batted .354 in 62 games for the Kingsport Mets, followed by a .305 season at A ball, Columbia in 2016. 

In 2017 moved from St. Lucie to AA Binghamton. By 2018 he was the Rumble Pony's main catcher jumping ahead of Tomas Nido. That season Patrick hit .231 with 9 HRs & 39 RBIs in 87 games.  

In 2019 he was one of the team's best hitters, as Mazeika led the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in HRs (16) doubles (25) & RBIs (69) while coming in second in hits (101) & runs scored (50). He played in 116 games overall, 53 at first base & 55 games behind the plate, ten games less than main catcher Ali Sanchez. 

Mets Career: In 2020 he was called up to the Mets twice but was demoted both times without seeing any playing time.

MLB Debut: On May 5th, 2021, he was called up to the Mets big league squad to replace the injured, Brandon Nimmo. He had never played in a game above the AA level before that point. 

That night, he made his MLB debut, coming in as a pinch hitter in the second inning, grounding out in a 7-2 win over the Cardinals. 

Walk Off Hit: On May 7th, in his second career at bat, he became a walk off hero for the first time. 

In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Mets were in a 4-4 tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

With the new rules, Pete Alonso was placed on second base. Dominic Smith was then walked intentionally & Kevin Pillar flew out.

 Next Jonathan Villar was also walked intentionally. With the bases loaded, Mazeika came in to pinch hit & then hit a fielder's choice back to the pitcher, Pete Alonso scored with the game winning walk off run.

The Mets stormed the field & celebrated by ripping Mazeika's jersey off his body.

On May 9th, the Mets had a 2-1 lead in the 6th inning. Pete Alonso led off with a walk & Dominic Smith was hit by a pitch. Kevin Pillar struck out, then Jonathan Villar drew a walk to load the bases. 

After James McCann struck out, Patrick Mazeika came to bat as a pinch hitter. Mazeika drew a walk as well, collecting his second RBI without ever getting a hit. The Mets went on to a 4-2 win, sweeping the series, winning their fifth straight game.

Walk Off Hit #2: On Tuesday May 9th, Mazeika came to bat as a pinch hitter, the last man off the bench, once again, in the bottom of the 9th inning, in another tied game. The Mets entered the 9th inning, down 2-1 to the Baltimore Orioles. Kevin Pillar & Jonathan Villar both singled. 

Dominic Smith came through with a base hit to tie the game. Mazeika grounded a roller to first base, Oriels first baseman, Trey Mancini threw home. 

Jonathan Villar's good base running & good slide under the catcher's tag, scored the winning run. Mazeika was a walk off hero for the second time in five days. 

Once again, his teammates celebrated by pulling off his uniform jersey. Patrick Mazeika had still yet to have his first major league hit but had two game winning walk off RBIs & three RBIs overall. 

Trivia: Mazeika is the first player since the RBI became a stat in 1920, to have multiple walk-off RBIs in his first four games. He is also the first player to have multiple walk off RBIs before collecting his first hit.

On May 16th his first career hit came, it was a HR off the Rays' Deigo Castillo in a 7-1 loss at Tampa. But his hot hitting cooled off & he was used in a backup role through the season.

On June 25th, he would have a multi-hit game in a loss to the Phillies then have another multi- hit game in September. 

Mazeika would not drive in another run until September 9th, when he had an RBI single in a 11-9 win over the Nationals. He drove in one other run in his next game.

The Mets had a good start to the season & remained in first place until August 13th. They went 21-36 the rest of the way finishing third at 77-85. 

Mazeika saw action in 37 games batting .190 with one HR & six RBIs. Behind the plate he made two errors & threw out 3 of 10 runners trying to steal.

2022: The next year the Mets had many new players & were a much better team. James McCann & Tomas Nido remained the teams' main backstops, as Mazeika started the year at AAA.

When James McCann went down with injury, Mazeika was brought up to back up Nido. On May 14th, in his first game back, he returned in dramatic fashion. 

In a game against the Seattle Mariners at Citi Field, with the score tied in the bottom of the 7th inning, Mazeika homered off Andres Munoz to put the Mets ahead. It ended up being the game winner in the 5-4 win. His HR heroics were short lived, as it was the only HR he hit all year. 

On May 21st, in the first game of a double header at Colorado, Mazeika hit a two run double in the Mets 5-1 win. He added an RBI in his next game as well.

But he didn't hit much after that point & the Mets did not get much offense from anyone in the catcher's position which was another factor that hurt them in the long run. 

On July 13th he hit another two-run double, this one at Wrigley Field in a Carlos Carrasco / Trevor Williams combined 8-0 shut out.

On August 1st, Mazeika was batting just .191 & was sent BACK down to AAA Syracuse. On August 18th he was designated for assignment.

Post Mets Career: He was selected off waivers by the San Francisco Giants was granted free agency & then signed with the Dodgers but was released the following year.

Family: In 2019, Patrick married his wife Jordan,who is a nurse in NCIU. Together they have one son.