Max Boldt

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Maximilian Boldt

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 205 lb.

Biographical Information[edit]

Max Boldt has played for the Mainz Athletics for over a decade, winning two MVP awards. In 2004, he was 0 for 1 with a walk at age 16. In 2005, he was 3 for 11 with two walks. He went 3 for 8 with a triple, 2 walks, a steal, 3 runs and 3 RBI for Germany at the 2005 European Junior Championship.

Boldt became Mainz's starting left fielder in 2006 and hit .250/.352/.317. Still a teenager in 2007, he alternated between second base and third base for Mainz and batted .323/.396/.452. He tied Klaus Hopfensperger for 9th in the southern Bundesliga-1 with 21 RBI. He tied for second with 10 doubles, trailing only Simon Gühring. He was 2-1 with a 11.81 ERA in six games on the hill. He helped Mainz win the pennant that year.

In 2008, Max hit .366/.443/.536 and had a 10.29 ERA and a save. He was 10th in the league in average, tied for fifth in hits (41), was third in doubles (13), was 8th in slugging and 8th in OPS. He was Mainz's big bat in the 2008 European Cup, going 7 for 22. He hit .247/.330/.404 for the 2009 A's and fielded .899 at 3B. He was 2-0 with 3 saves and a 1.62 ERA, tying Dominik Hartinger and Rodney Gessmann for second in the league in saves. Despite an off-year, he made his German national team debut in the 2009 Baseball World Cup. In his only game, he pitched to one batter, relieving Markus Winkler and striking out Willie Vasquez to end a 12-2 loss to Venezuela.

Boldt hit .253/.360/.379 in 2010 and was 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA; he fielded .942 as a 3B/P/SS (he also had one game apiece at 1B and 2B). His four triples tied Michael Stephan for the league lead. Backing up Dominik Wulf at third base in the 2010 European Championship, he was 0 for 2. He rebounded offensively in 2011, batting .379/.466/.621, though he fielded only .887. He allowed four runs in 7 1/3 IP on the mound. He was among the league leaders in average (6th, between Ludwig Glaser and Gessmann), homers (5, tied for first), runs (9th, 22), slugging (3rd, after Evan LeBlanc and Nils Hartkopf) and OBP (8th, between Matt Vance and Mike Larson). He was 1 for 7 with a run, 5 putouts and 5 assists backing up Wulf in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, this time at 2B.

He hit .314/.391/.480 with 22 runs and 22 RBI in 24 games for the 2012 Athletics, fielding .964 while starting at 2B. He pitched briefly (4 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K in 2 1/3 IP). He put on a strong show in the 2012 European Championship, his first time as a starter for Germany. Playing 3B and 2B, he hit .448/.484/.621 with 5 doubles, 5 runs and 2 RBI in 9 games. He backed up Toby Gardenhire at 2B in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, going 1 for 4 with a run and a RBI.

Boldt batted .364/.411/.542 in 2013, moving to 1B and fielding .971. He did not pitch. He tied Jamie McOwen and Matti Emery for 7th in RBI (24), was 4th in hits (43, between Josh Petersen and Jay Pecci), tied Chris Beck for 90th in average, tied Lukas Steinlein for 9th in runs (26) and was 9th in slugging (between Sascha Lutz and McOwen). He slipped to .260/.331/.394 in 2014, fielding .970 as a utility infielder. Despite that off-season, he still made Germany's squad for the 2014 European Championship and did a very good job again in the Euros, hitting .435/.500/.609 with six runs and six RBI in eight games, handling 15 chances error-free as a 2B/3B. He hit a homer off Leslie Nacar in a 4-3 loss to Spain and had 3-hit games against both Sweden and Czech Republic. He finished 8th in the Euros in average.

In 2015, he hit .386/.426/.614 with 26 RBI and 18 doubles in 28 games for Mainz. He tied McOwen and Gühring for 6th in the league in hits (44), was 10th in slugging and led in doubles (four ahead of runner-up Aaron Dunsmore). His .989 fielding percentage at 1B was second-best, .001 behind Christoph Zirzlmeier. Starting at 2B for Germany in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March 2016, he went 2 for 7, with hits off José Luis Sáenz and Gustavo Martínez in the extra-inning loss to Nicaragua but none against the Czechs.

He hit .372/.444/.566 with 31 runs and 41 RBI in 28 games in the 2016 season. Now playing catcher primarily, he fielded .992. He was 9th in the league in average (between Kevin Kotowski and Juan Martín), tied Glaser for 7th in homers (4), led in RBI (one ahead of McOwen), tied Martín for 3rd in hits (42), tied Peterson for 6th in doubles (8), tied Maik Ehmcke for 5th in runs, was 8th in slugging (between Gühring and Peter Johannessen) and ranked 8th in OPS (between Johannessen and Shawn Larry). Despite the position change, he was second among catchers in fielding percentage and third in percentage of runners caught stealing (27.3%). He was named league MVP for his performance.

In the 2016 European Championship, he hit .276/.294/.345 as Germany's main first baseman. His 8 RBI tied Eric Brenk for the team lead and tied for 5th in the event. He also led the Euros with three sacrifice flies and his 9 whiffs tied Matej Hejma for second. He had three-RBI games against both Sweden and Russia and drove in the winner against Britain, singling off Conrad Cornell with two outs in the 7th to score Philip Schulz.

He became player-manager of Mainz in 2017. In the 2017 European Champions Cup, he hit a grand slam off former Dodgers farmhand Misja Harcksen in an upset of Curacao Neptunus and a two-run homer against former Phillies minor leaguer Mike Bolsenbroek. He hit .400/.550/1.000 with 3 homers, 6 runs and 8 RBI in four games. The official leaderboard did not count the placement games; he was 4th in slugging (.917, between Gianison Boekhoudt and Paolino Ambrosino), tied for 6th in RBI (6) and tied Gabriel Fromental-Houle and Boekhoudt for the home run lead (2). While playing catcher, second, third, short and pitcher, he hit .471/.565/.902 in the regular season with 11 homers, 41 runs and 41 RBI in 28 games. He won the batting title (12 points ahead of Drake Zarate), tied Gary Owens and Thomas De Wolf for the home run lead, led in RBI (two ahead of Owens), was 2nd in hits (48, 2 behind Owens), tied Fernando Escarra for 3rd with 11 doubles, led in runs (2 ahead of Owens), tied Sascha Lutz and De Wolf for the most walks (25), led in slugging (.104 ahead of #2 De Wolf), led in OBP (.018 ahead of Zarate) and led in OPS (160 ahead of De Wolf). He was also 3rd among catchers in both fielding percentage and percent caught stealing. Despite his Triple Crown, Owens beat him for the MVP.

Boldt hit .304/.333/.435 for Germany in the 2018 Haarlem Baseball Week, with a 3-hit game in a win over Cuba, Germany's only run in a loss to Japan and one of their two hits in a loss to Italy. He batted .315/.396/.432 in what for him was an off-season for Mainz. He was still 5th in the loop with 23 RBI, tied Kotowski for 7th in hits (35) and was 3rd among catchers in fielding percentage (.994) though he allowed a league-high 30 steals. In the 2018 Super6, he was 2 for 12 with a double, three walks and two runs.

He had a 1343 OPS in 2019, hitting .410 (2nd to David Grimes) and 11 homers (3rd, behind David Kandilas and Mitch Nilsson). That earned him his second MVP nod. He manned first for Germany in the 2019 European Championship and batted .360/.433/.400. Only Marco Cardoso had a better average for Germany and only Cardoso and Kotowski had a better OBP for the team.

Sources[edit]

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