Jack Krawczyk

From BR Bullpen

Jack Benton Krawczyk

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Jack Krawczyk was a top college pitcher who set or tied three national records. He peaked at AAA. He is the son of Tom Krawczyk. Unlike many closers, he relied heavily on his changeup, as his fastball peaked around 84 mph.

Jack was 4-2 with 3 saves and a 4.11 ERA as a freshman, walking only 8 in 46 innings. He pitched the last 1 2/3 IP of the championship game in the 1995 College World Series, but USC fell 11-5 to Cal State Fullerton. Taking over the closer's role the next year, he went 4-1 with 12 saves and a 4.55 ERA for the #7 team in NCAA Division I. He tied Braden Looper and Nick Witte for 6th in Division I in saves, while leading the Pac-10 Conference. In his junior season, USC fell to 10th nationally while Krawczyk was 2-3 with 11 saves and a 3.20 ERA. In 39 innings, he allowed 29 hits and 3 walks. Only fellow junior Seth Etherton had a lower ERA for the team. He again led the Pac-10 in saves, this time tying for fourth in Division I.

As a senior, Krawczyk was 3-2 with 23 saves and a 2.01 ERA, walking 8 and striking out 51 in 49 innings. He set the Division I record for saves in a season; in 1998, the closest pitchers had 13 apiece. The American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball named him first-team All-American but Baseball America picked him second-team behind Josh Fogg. In the 1998 College World Series, Krawczyk was 1-0 with two saves and a 3.68 ERA to win All-Tournament honors. In the championship game, he relieved in the 8th of a 16-14 slugfest and retired all five batters he faced for the save; he was the only scoreless pitcher in the 21-14 contest. He tied the College World Series record for career saves (4) - the mark would later be topped by Huston Street.

Due to his lack of a strong fastball, the record-setting hurler fell to the 25th round of the 1998 amateur draft before the Milwaukee Brewers took a shot by picking him. He split his first pro season between the Helena Brewers (0-1, 7 R in 8 1/3 IP) and Beloit Snappers (3-1, 4.69, 42 K in 40 1/3 IP). In 1999, he was with Beloit (0 R, 11 K in 6 1/3 IP) and the Stockton Ports (5-4, 2 Sv, 4.68, 19 BB in 77 IP).

In 2000, Jack was with the Mudville Nine (7-1, 15 Sv, 1.47, 9 BB, 62 H, 80 K in 86 IP) and Huntsville Stars (2 R in 4 IP). He was a California League All-Star pitcher and led Brewers farmhands in ERA (1.60). He spent all of 2002 in Huntsville, going 6-2 with a save, 3.43 ERA and .224 opponent average while walking 16 in 81 1/3 IP. He was not used as the closer, a role that fell to Brian Mallette.

Krawczyk split 2002 between the High Desert Mavericks (0-2, 2 Sv, 6.52, 12 K in 9 2/3 IP), Huntsville (5-3, 5 Sv, 2.71, 1.04 WHIP, 69 K in 66 1/3 IP) and the Indianapolis Indians (4 R, 3 BB in 2 2/3 IP). At season's end, he was picked by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round of the AAA phase of the 2002 Rule 5 Draft. The right-hander bounced around in his final season, 2003. He was with the South Bend Silver Hawks (3-1, 1.59, 40 K in 28 1/3 IP), Lancaster JetHawks (1 R in 4 1/3 IP), Midland Rockhounds (0-2, 16 R, 22 H, 6 BB in 12 2/3 IP) and El Paso Diablos (1-1, 5.08).

Overall, he had gone 30-18 with 28 saves and a 3.52 ERA in 262 minor league games. He struck out 443 and walked only 98 (13 of those intentionally) in 455 2/3 IP.

Krawczyk was pitching coach for the Mat-Su Miners in 2004 and Arizona State University in 2005. He then went into truck and trailer sales.

Sources[edit]

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