Marius Balandis

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 215 lb.

• School St. Louis University, Iowa Western Community College
• High School St. Laurence High School

• Born July 15, 1998 in Vilnius Lithuania

BR register page

Biographical Information

Marius Balandis has pitched regularly for the Lithuanian national team.

He hit .346/.414/.577 with 10 runs in the 2012 U-15 Baseball World Cup, going 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA and 20 K in 14 IP; he lost to Kevin Reyes of Honduras but beat Aryo Sadono of Indonesia. He was 4th in strikeouts, between Julius Reitemeier and Dannel Díaz. He was the lone Lithuanian at the 2014 MLB European Elite Camp, learning from players like Barry Larkin and Greg Swindell. Debuting for Lithuania's senior team in the 2015 B-Level European Championship, he walked 7 in 6 2/3 IP but struck out 8 to beat Andrej Los and Belarus. He was 0 for 2 in the event, but with 4 walks and 2 runs. He tied teammate Eimantas Žičkus for 9th in the Vienna pool in K. He was 0-1 with a 1.29 ERA in the 2017 U23 European Championship, hitting .286/.375/.571; he lost to Belgium's Robin Roevens. He came to the US for his senior year of high school.

During the 2017 B-Level European Championship, he struck out 13 and allowed one hit in 7 innings against Belarus and left with a 2-0 lead over Yauhei Kurhun but Žičkus failed to hold on to the lead and got the win after Lithuania rallied later. In the title game against former overlord Russia, the teenager allowed one run in 7 1/3 IP to beat Denis Leonov. His 13 K tied former Twins farmhand Andrei Lobanov for 6th in the round-robin. Adding in the title game, he led the event in K and only Lobanov had a better ERA. In the past, the B-Level European champions would move on to the European Championship but the format changed this time and Lithuania had to face Austria in the 2018 European Championship Playoff for a spot in the 2019 European Championship. Balandis started game 1 but was roughed up with a first-inning grand slam to Richard Alzinger and 10 runs in 4 innings, whereas Christian Tomsich turned in shutout ball. Lithuania was blown out in Game 2 as well.

By this time, Balandis was playing junior college ball, going 6-1 with a 3.72 ERA and 42 K in 38 2/3 IP for Iowa Western. As a sophomore, his ERA jumped to 7.06 but he was still 4-1 with a save. He fanned 33 but walked 26 in 21 2/3 IP. He fanned 18 Belarusian batters in 7 innings in the 2019 B-Level European Championship but Edvardas Matusevičius took the loss in relief. He was 4th in the Trnava pool in strikeouts, between former Reds farmhand Jakub Ižold and Matusevičius. Lithuania again advanced to a playoff, the 2019 European Championship Playoff, this time versus Israel, for the final spot in the 2019 Euros (Israel competed in European tournaments due to antisemitism excluding them from Asian events). He lost Game 2 to Royals minor leaguer Gabe Cramer, again being hit hard (10 R in 3 IP).

Transferring to St. Louis University, he was 1-1 with a save and a 3.09 ERA in the COVID-19-shortened 2020. He fell to 0-1 with a save and a 14.73 ERA the next spring, though. Back with Lithuania for the 2021 European Championship Qualifier, he dominated Romania (0 H, 15 K, 3 BB, 0 R in 6 IP) to beat Eduard Pirvu; Vilus Paikovas gave up a hit after Balandis left to end the no-hit bid. In their 8-4 loss to Greece in the title game, he allowed 2 runs in 2 1/3 IP of relief but struck out 5 more. Between all 4 qualifiers, he was 5th in K; among pitchers with at least 5 IP, only Mitchell Hillert allowed a lower average.

At the 2022 European Championship Qualifier, he was 2-for-3 with two walks, two steals, a double and 3 runs; on the hill, he struck out 14 and yielded only 3 runs (2 earned) in losing the title game to Switzerland's Jonah Schaller, the third time in his career that Lithuania had just missed out on a European Championship. He was 6th in the 2022 qualifiers in strikeouts and only Schaller allowed a lower average than his .129. Lithuania finally made it to a European Championship in 2025, though this time Balandis did not play in the qualifier (he did coach for them in the 2024 European Championship Qualifier ). He was listed as a player-coach, thus making him the first person to be a player for and coach for Lithuania in a European Championship, though he did not wind up playing in any games.