Lee Gronkiewicz

Lee Matthew Gronkiewicz is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007. He is the current head coach of the Columbia Blowfish and is also involved with USA baseball on the college national team selection committee.

College career

A native of Los Angeles, California, Gronkiewicz attended Lancaster High School in South Carolina. He started his college baseball career at Spartanburg Methodist College, and then transferred to the University of South Carolina. In 1999, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In, he set a school record in saves and was selected to the All-SEC team and was a First-team All-American. He led the country in saves that year and had a 1.42 run average">Run (baseball)">run average.

Gronkiewicz signed with the Cleveland Indians in as an amateur free agent. In 2003, he was recognized as the best relief pitcher in the minor leagues and given the minor leagues' Rolaids Relief Award. He spent four years in Cleveland's minor league system before he was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rule 5 draft. In seven minor-league seasons, Gronkiewicz has a career 18–16 record, pitching almost entirely in relief with just one start for the Syracuse Sky Chiefs, putting up a 2.48 ERA and a 1.16 hits per inning pitched|WHIP] along the way. He struck out nearly four times as many batters as he walked.

Gronkiewicz' major league debut was on June 19,, when the Blue Jays hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed one run—a home run to Dodgers catcher Russell Martin—on two hits, walking two and striking out two, over four innings of work. He was on the Major League roster for about a week before being demoted.
In November 2007, he signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.
In April, after a stellar month in Triple-A where he allowed 1 run in 11 innings, he was placed on the DL with elbow soreness. It was later determined to be damage to his UCL and he underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his season. He became a free agent at the end of the season.