Valentino Pascucci

Valentino Martin Pascucci (born November 17, 1978 in Bellflower, California) is a Major League Baseball Player in the New York Mets organization. He bats and throws right-handed.

Career

Pascucci was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 11th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, but he chose to go to college instead. He attended college at the University of Oklahoma for two years, from 1997-1998. He was originally a pitcher, compiling a 4-0 win-loss record with two saves and 64 strikeouts in 58 innings pitched. The Montréal Expos selected him in the 15th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. He began his professional career as a position player.

Pascucci's pro career began in 1999, with the Single-A Vermont Expos. In 2000, with a 20-game stint with the Cape Fear Crocs, the Single-A affiliate of the Expos, Pascucci batted .319 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI and was called up to the High-A Jupiter Hammerheads later that season. He played 113 games for Jupiter, hitting .284 with a .394 on-base percentage. Val was promoted to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators for the 2002 season, where he sent a minor league career high 27 home runs out of the park. He played with the Triple-A Edmonton Trappers for all of 2003 and parts of 2004.

On April 26, 2004, Pascucci was called up by Montréal from Triple-A Edmonton. He debuted for the Expos in right field later that day. Val, however, was sent back down to the minor leagues on May 28. Pascucci was not called back up to the Majors until September 1, when MLB rosters expanded. He hit his first career home run on September 15, 2004 and also played in the final game of the Expos' history on October 3. He was released by the Washington Nationals on December 10, 2004, and had not played in the big leagues since until September 8, 2011.

Pascucci spent the 2006 season with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League. On April 6, 2007, Pascucci was signed by the Florida Marlins and spent the season with their Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes. In December 2007, Pascucci signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. After being released by the Phillies on April 29, Pascucci signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets a few days later. He spent the rest of the season playing for the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Mets Triple-A affiliate and became a free agent at the end of the season. In January 2009, he signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pascucci hit only .207 with 8 home runs in 60 games with the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes before he was released by the Dodgers on June 18, 2009. He was signed by the San Diego Padres on June 27 and assigned to their AAA club, the Portland Beaverdes. On May 14, 2010 Pascucci signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets, and was assigned to AAA Buffalo.

In 2011, he was called up when the rosters expanded on September 1st, after hitting 21 home runs and driving in 91 R.B.I.s with AAA Buffalo. He made his Mets debut on September 8, 2011 when he pinch hit for Willie Harris. He got a single against Atlanta Braves pitcher Eric O'Flaherty and was then pinch run for by Jason Pridie. After that he went 0-5 with a main pinch-hitter role for the team, until On September 24th, he hit a game tying pinch-hit home run in the 7th inning off of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels to tie the game at 1. It was Pasccuci's first pinch-hit home run and just the 3rd home run of his Major league career. Val's teammate and Mets third baseman David Wright then hit a go-ahead double in the 8th inning to give the Mets a 2-1 win over their rivals. On the very next day, Pasccuci hit a pinch-hit R.B.I. single against Phillies pitcher Antonio Bastardo. That would be Pasccuci's last hit of the 2011 season. He made a mere two pinch-hit appearances in the Mets' last series of he season against the Cincinnati Reds. Pasccuci finished the 2011 season 3-11, good for a .273 batting average. On November 17th, 2011, the Mets announced that Pascucci would be invited to 2012 Major League Spring Training.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube