Jimmy Yacabonis: New Jersey Born Mets Pitcher (2023)

-

 James Allin Yacabonis was born March 21st, 1992 in Elizabeth, New Jersey to James & Maria Yacabonis. 

Jimmy attended Lincroft High School & then played baseball at the University of St. Joseph in Philadelphia. His grandfather had played professional baseball in Cuba.

The six-foot righthander was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 2013 MLB draft. He spent four years in the Orioles minors getting a 2017 big league call up. His manager in Baltimore was Buck Schowalter.

MLB Career: Yacabonis was called up in early June & made his MLB debut on June 11th pitching in the 7th inning of relief in New York. He struck out his first batter then gave up two walks, a two run double & a two run HR to Aaron Judge in the 14-3 loss.

On September 1st, he pitched a scoreless 13th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays & earned his
first career victory in the 1-0 win. In that same series, two days later he pitched a scoreless 12th inning in another Orioles walk win earning him his second win. On the year he was 2-0 with a 4.35 ERA in 14 appearances.

The next season he had a strong Spring Training &the Orioles wanted of make him as a starter. He spent most of the season at AAA Norfolk but did make seven starts in 14 appearances for Baltimore going 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA. 

In 2019 he struggled giving up 32 runs, 24 walks & nine HRs in 41 innings of work posting a 6.80 ERA. He was designated for assignment & then became a free agent signing with the San Diego Padres but did not play for them in the Covid 19 shortened season. 

Jimmy was then traded to the Seattle Mariners where he appeared in two games.

Yacobonis did not pitch at the major league level for two years, making nine appearances with the Miami Marlins was placed on waivers & then picked up by the Tampa Rays where he made five appearances.

Mets Career: Jimmy was signed to a minor league deal with the New York Mets & began 2023 at AAA Syracuse. On April 15th he was assigned to a hurting Mets staff suffering from injuries, reunited with his old manager Buck Showalter. 

On April 15th, he made his Mets debut pitching a scoreless 9th inning in Oakland holding a 3-3 tie. The Mets scored a run in the top of the 10th when Zack Jackson walked Francisco Lindor with the bases loaded for what was the games winning run, giving Yacabonis the win.

On April 19th, he came into the game at Dodger Stadium, after Max Scherzer was ejected for having a sticky substance on his hand & glove. 

After getting Max Muncy to ground out, Yacobonis gave up a double, a single then an RBI sac fly line drive to Danny Peralta. 

After he got out of the inning, he seemingly teased the umpires looking for a thorough inspection after the Scherzer ejection. After the run he settled down giving the Mets 2.2 scoreless innings & earned his second win of the week on the California road trip.

On April 25th he came in relief & gave up three runs to the Nationals in a 5-0 Mets loss. On May 9th he was placed on the IL missing action until the end of month. He made two more appearances having a rough outing on May 7th, giving up five runs to the Rockies before getting designated for assignment. 

Jimmy cleared waivers was sent to AAA Syracuse then reactivated to make two more August
appearances. He declined another minor league assignment & elected free agency.

Post Mets Career: In September he signed a deal with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.

Carrer Stats: In his career Yacabonis was 6-7 with a 6.08 ERA making 78 appearances (13 starts).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more