Marc Deschenes

Marc Andre Deschenes
also listed as Marc Jose Deschenes

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.
• School University of Massachusetts Lowell
• High School Dracut High School

• Born January 6, 1973 in Lowell, MA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical information

In 1997, Marc Deschenes won the Bob Feller Award given to the top pitcher in the Cleveland Indians' minor league system. That year, he went 4-2. 1.52 with 29 saves in 60 games between the Columbus RedStixx of the South Atlantic League and the Kinston Indians of the Carolina League; he also struck out 108 batters in just 65 innings. Following the season, he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1997 Rule V Draft but failed to make the team in spring training in 1998 and was returned to Cleveland. He had been drafted by the Indians in the 20th round of the 1995 amateur draft, out of the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he had been a shortstop and in his first pro season, in 1995, he hit .208 in 42 games for the Watertown Indians of the New York-Penn League. In 1996, he became a pitcher and as a starter for Columbus, he went 5-2, 3.40 in 16 games.

After his breakout season, he was unable to climb up to the Show. After being returned to Cleveland by the Dodgers, he was assigned to AA with the Akron Aeros in 1998 and went 4-6, 3.86 in 46 games, with 5 saves. However, the Indians had him repeat the level in both 1999 and 2000 and he did not show much improvement, going 3-2, 3.31 the first year and 2-4, 3.98 the second year. He strikeout rate fell below one per inning the first year, then bounced up slightly the second. He did make it to AAA in 2001 after starting out by going 2-2, 1.72 in 22 games for Akron, but it all fell apart with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League: his ERA there was 6.37 in 22 games, and he issued 23 walks in 29 2/3 innings.

He was no longer considered a significant prospect after that and bounced around a couple of organizations starting in 2002, then had a stint in the independent leagues with the Nashua Pride of the Atlantic League in 2002 and 2004. He did well the second year there, with an ERA of 1.73 in 23 games, earning another shot in organized baseball with his hometown team, the Boston Red Sox. He pitched in both AA and AAA from 2004 to 2006, including a full season with the Pawtucket Red Sox the last year when he was 8-5, 4.54 as a swingman, making 16 starts in 29 appearances. However, he was 33 by then and his only hope of pitching in the big leagues would have been as an emergency call-up - something which did not happen.

All three of his names are typically French-Canadian, which is not surprising given the large community of persons originating from Quebec in his birth city of Lowell, MA. He returned there after his playing career and organized a couple of youth baseball teams before opening the Life Skills Baseball Academy, working alongside a number of former major leaguers such as John McDonald Zach Sorensen and Mark Budzinski, all former Cleveland farmhands as well.