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).