Today’s Wellness Check is with Matt Szczur. What a dude! Listen here!
In addition to being an MLB player who won a ring with the Cubs in 2016, Matt was a standout “do it all” MVP football player for the 2009 NCAA FCS champion Villanova Wildcats. He made international headlines in 2016 when ESPN told the story (video inserted below) of his bone marrow donation that saved the life of a young Ukrainian girl. He and his wife now run the “Szcz the Day” Matt Szczur Foundation, which increases awareness about bone marrow donation, sells cool merch and much more. He’s also an accomplished painter, selling his amazing artwork for thousands of dollars to benefit a variety of charities.
So basically, he’s the kind of guy who inadvertently makes the rest of us feel like chumps. But he’s so damn nice about it.
In addition to his awesomeness, Brad and Matt talk about Matt’s time with the Cubs, including his disappointment at being left off the 2016 playoff roster, the time Anthony Rizzo used Matt’s bat to break out of his 2016 playoff slump, what it felt like to be traded to the Padres in May 2017, his impressive but injury-laden 2019 campaign in the Diamondbacks farm system, what he hopes 2020 holds for him while playing in the Phillies system, enjoying the quarantine life with his wife and newborn son, the former Cubs teammates he stills stays in touch with, and much more.
Sign up for the National Bone Marrow Registry here. It takes two minutes and can save a life.
Follow Matt on Instagram and Twitter.
