The Amazing Story of Brad Ziegler
Normally, I don’t like writing about major leaguers. There are plenty of blogs out there that fill the net with stories about them. But Brad Ziegler is a special story. He pitched two shutout innings yesterday and got his first save, extending his shutout streak to 37 innings. No pitcher in major league history has started so well. He’s making the major leagues look easy. Where did this guy come from?
Brad Ziegler is no young prospect. He’s 28 years old. Ziegler is a ground ball submarine type pitcher. He was a 20th round draft pick by the Phillies in 2003 as a senior out of college. You don’t see a lot of 20th round college seniors making it to the big leagues. The Phillies only gave him three games in the minor leagues and then released him. The kid couldn’t hit 95 on the radar gun so they saw no value in him.
Ziegler went to pitch for the Schaumburg Flyers in the Northern League, striking out 26 and walking only one. Billy Beane, always one that looks for perfomance and not necessarily skils signed him. They had tried to sign him last year, drafting him in the 31st round, but Ziegler chose to finish his career at Missouri. He pitched for Modesto and won nine games there.
Just when things were starting to go well, as Ziegler was pitching in a minor league playoff game Fred Lewis cracked a line drive off Ziegler’s temple, cracking his skull. At the hospital they found fluid in his brain and were prepared to give him emergency brain surgery. The swelling went down and surgery was not necessary, but he was advised that he should consider another career. There was no future in baseball.
Ziegler did not listen to doctors, pitched the next year and struggled in a hitter’s league. In 24 starts for the Stockton Ports he had an ERA of 4.66, not stellar for a 25 year old in A ball. The A’s saw enough to promote him to AA and in four starts there he finished with a 6.86 ERA. He gave up 193 hits in 162 innings, but he was pitching.
In 2006 he pitched better, splitting time between Midland in AA (3.36 ERA) and Sacramento in AAA (6.00 ERA). He still gave up over 180 hits and for a 26 year old a major league career was far from anyone’s mind. When the year had ended, Ron Romanick, a fine pitcher in his days with the Angels and a bulldog on the mound, asked him if he would change his delvery to submarine. Wow. If only life could be so simple.
In 2007 Ziegler was dominant in AA, finishing with an ERA of 1.14 in 15 games. He was promoted to Sacramento and he continued his dominance, finishing with an ERA of 2.96 in 35 games. Best of all, his strikeout rate had improved (almost a strikeout per inning) and his hits to innings pitched had dropped below one. Also, the previous year 20 of his pitches had left the ball park. In 2007, not one of his pitches was hit for a home run. Still, when the season ended he was 27 years old. No one was writing about him in any prospect book.
But at least now things are getting better. Think again. In January 2007, while playing catch a kid jumped in front of him, tipped the ball and fractured his skull. Again. Makes you think of the saying that if I didn’t have any bad luck I would not have any luck at all.
Fortunately, this fracture was not as bad. He recovered, and undeterred went to AAA Sacramento and pitched lights out. In 19 games he had an ERA of 0.37 with opponents only hitting .174 off him. And still no one had hit a homerun off him. So the A’s called him up on May 30, 2008 - and guess what. Still no one has hit a homerun off him. In fact, no has scored a run off him. In 37 innings of pitching. That is a major league record for a pitcher starting his major league career. Can you say Wow.
Credit must be given to http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/08/01/ziegler-directors-cut/ and Wikopedia for pulling a number of facts together.