Matt Lollis

Matthew Casey Lollis

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 9", Weight 180 lb.
• School Riverside Community College
• High School Patriot High School

• Born September 11, 1990 in Riverside, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical information

Pitcher Matt Lollis played in the minor leagues from 2009 to 2016, briefly reaching AAA. At 6'9", he was one of the tallest baseball players of his generation.

He was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 15th round of the 2009 amateur draft from Riverside Community College and began his career that same year with the AZL Padres, pitching 6 games and 8 2/3 innings. He got a more extended opportunity in 2010 when he split the season between the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League and the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League, combining to go 7-4, 2.12 in 15 starts. In 2011, he spent a full season in the California League with the Lake Elsinore Storm and went 4-8, 5.35 in 31 games and a career-high 119 1/3 innings.

2012 was a bit of an unusual season for him as, on the one hand, he pitched for three different teams without finding much success with any of them, but on the other hand he also played in AAA for the first time. He opened the year as a reliever in the AA Texas League with the San Antonio Missions and in spite of going 1-5, 5.86 in 25 games, found himself briefly in the Pacific Coast League at the end of June, pitching two games for the Tucson Padres and going 0-1, 8.10. He then went all the way back to Lake Elsinore to finish the season, going 0-7, 6.83 as a starter. As a result, his overall numbers were poor, at 1-13, 6.57, but the Padres still believed in him. In 2013, he was back at Lake Elsinore to start the year, but now strictly as a reliever, and did well, going 2-4, 2.32 in 23 games. The Padres then put him back in Tucson, but it was again only for a short spell: three relief outings in which he lost one game and put up an ERA of 6.23. He then finished the season in San Antonio, but struggled to an ERA of 6.23 in 32 games.

On January 22, 2014, he was included in a major trade between the Padres and Tampa Bay Rays, in which the marquee names were Ps Alex Torres and Jesse Hahn, who went to San Diego, and IF Logan Forsythe and P Brad Boxberger who went to Tampa. The Rays also acquired three prospects in the deal, P Matt Andriese who would become a useful major leaguer, and IF Maxx Tissenbaum and Lollis, neither of whom would reach the Show. In his first season in the Rays' system, Matt spent a full year in AA as a relief pitcher for the Montgomery Biscuits, going 6-2, 4.03 with 3 saves. He was back with the Biscuits in 2015 and went 3-2, 3.53 in 47 games. He seemed finally truly ready for AAA, as had not been the case in his two earlier brief stints, but that opportunity would come with another team. He became a free agent after the 2015 season and signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox. He started the 2016 season back in the Southern League with the Birmingham Barons and continued to do well, going 3-1, 2.41 in 22 games to finally get an extended look in AAA with the Charlotte Knights in the International League. However, as had been the case a few years earlier, he was hit hard at that level, with an ERA of 5.56 in 15 games. He became a free agent after the season but could not find another team this time, and retired as a player.