Marc Rzepczynski

Marc Walter Rzepczynski (/zəpˈtʃɪnski/ zəp-CHIN-skee; born August 29, 1985), nicknamed "Scrabble", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, and Seattle Mariners.

Rzepczynski attended Servite High School in Anaheim, California and the University of California, Riverside, where he played college baseball for the Highlanders from 2004–2007. In his senior season, the Highlanders won the Big West Conference championship and appeared in the NCAA tournament.

He also played for the Corvallis Knights and the Bellingham Bells (2004) in the West Coast League, an independent summer collegiate league.

Rzepczynski was drafted in the fifth round (175th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his professional debut that season for the Low-A Auburn Doubledays of the New York–Penn League. With Auburn, he posted a 5–0 record and a 2.76 ERA in 11 games (7 starts), with 49 strikeouts and 17 walks in 45+2⁄3 innings pitched.

In 2008, Rzepczynski advanced to the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League, where he finished 7–6 with a 2.83 ERA in 22 starts, with 124 strikeouts and 42 walks over 121 innings pitched.

In 2009, Rzepczynski through early July had split his season between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Toronto's Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League, and the Las Vegas 51s, Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. His 2009 statistics between Double-A and Triple-A combined for 16 games (all starts), with a 9–5 record, a 2.66 ERA, 104 strikeouts, and 40 walks, in 88 innings pitched.

A series of injuries to pitchers at the major league level had plagued the parent Blue Jays for the first three months of the 2009 season, leading to opportunities for several rookies to advance to the top level. Scott Richmond, himself a rookie starter who had pitched very well for Toronto, became the latest casualty, when he went on the disabled list on July 4, retroactive to July 1, due to biceps tendinitis. Richmond, before play on July 6, ranked 16th of 40 eligible American League pitchers in Earned Run Average (ERA). Brett Cecil, another rookie who was already in the Jays' starting rotation, started on July 5 on short notice in Richmond's stead, against the New York Yankees, but this still left Toronto with only four healthy starters, leading to Rzepczynski's promotion and opportunity. Rzepczynski pitched six innings in his debut, during which he gave up 2 hits and 1 earned run, walked 4, and struck out 7 in a no-decision; the Jays lost, 3–1, in 11 innings. In his second big-league start, Rzepczynski again pitched well, but took the loss against the Baltimore Orioles on July 12, lasting 6 innings and allowing 3 earned runs; Toronto lost the game, 4–2. Rzepczynski won his first major-league game on July 18, defeating the American League leading Boston Red Sox; he pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out 4; Toronto won, 6–2. Jays manager Cito Gaston stated before the game that Rzepczynski would remain in the rotation for at least the next couple of weeks, pending Richmond's return from the disabled list.

On July 27, 2011, Rzepczynski was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson, and Corey Patterson in exchange for Colby Rasmus, P. J. Walters, Trever Miller, and Brian Tallet. He made 28 appearances on the year for St. Louis, posting an 0-3 record and 3.97 ERA with 28 strikeouts across 22+2⁄3 innings pitched. The Cardinals won the 2011 World Series; in the series, Rzepczynski faced a total of four batters in two games, striking out three and giving up a two-run double.