The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a deal with 29-year-old left-handed pitcher Daniel Zamora. The news was announced by Zamora on his Instagram page.
Zamora was originally drafted by the Pirates in the 40th round of the 2015 draft. He was traded to the New York Mets in January of 2018 for lefty pitcher Josh Smoker.
Zamora debuted in the majors with the Mets in August of 2018 and had a 3.00 in 16 appearances that season. That amounted to just nine innings, as he was being used as a lefty specialist. He picked up 16 strikeouts in that brief time. He pitched 17 games for the 2019 Mets, giving up five runs over 8.2 innings, with eight strikeouts. He didn’t play during the 2020 shortened season.
Zamora was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners in May of 2021. He made four relief appearances in the majors that season, allowing three earned runs over 4.1 innings. He spent the 2022 season in Triple-A for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he had a 3.86 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP and 71 strikeouts in 63 innings for Oklahoma City of the Pacific Coast League. That league had an average ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 1.51 during the 2022 season.
The Pirates are very light on left-handed pitchers right now, so we could see him get a shot at some point. The big league experience coupled with above average Triple-A numbers should at least make him an option for that role. We still have two full months until Spring Training starts, so the lefty pitching depth could look much different by then as well.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
As a lefty, I’m starting to think I should start a throwing program. I was one helluva fast pitch wiffle ball pitcher. I had an unhittable curve.
It wasn’t the ball with the oblong holes round the top of the ball, was it?
Those curves don’t count!
Solid plastic. We hated those ones with the holes.
We taped ours over completely with black electricians’ tape.
We taped our bats.
oh, yeah. That too.
Barry Zito style curve? And we don’t need some one on strict pitch limits.
My cousin’s husband played minor league ball against Zito at two different levels. He said he went 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts against him. He also said he had either 5-6 hits against Tim Hudson in eight at-bats. He said Zito was the toughest pitcher he faced over his six seasons in pro ball (all minors)
Good story. Couldn’t imaging trying to hit that curve if I was a lefty. Either side of the plate I think I would just try to throw down a bunt to save face. Even bases loaded no outs. I’m pretty sure Zito is good on the guitar. Maybe someday the Bucs will have a combo similar to Mulder, Hudson, and Zito. Even if it is only for a few years.
I recommend meditation instead.
I regularly fast and pray for the Bucs. 😇😇😇
Liked him when he pitched here in Bradenton. Can’t believe we traded him for Smoker.
Minor league deal?
He didn’t say, but that would be safe to assume.
I always liked Zamora. You gotta love it when a 40th round pick makes it to the big leagues, however briefly. Hard not to root for him.
This makes up for losing Joe Jacques.
That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.