Former big league right-handers Dan Straily and Tyler Zuber have signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, per a team announcement.
Straily, 35, has spent the past four seasons pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization, though he did briefly return stateside for Triple-A run with the 2022 D-backs. The former A’s, Marlins, Reds, Cubs, Orioles and Astros righty has pitched 503 innings for the KBO’s Lotte Giants, working to a 3.29 ERA with a 23.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. Lotte released him midway through the 2023 season, however, as he scuffled to a more pedestrian 4.37 ERA in his first 16 starts.
Prior to his largely successful KBO run, Straily enjoyed a good bit of success in an eight-year span in the big leagues. While the righty wasn’t especially consistent, he had stretches where he looked like a solid innings-eating workhorse, including a 2016-17 run between Cincinnati and Miami wherein he tossed 373 innings of 4.01 ERA ball with a 21.3% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. On the whole, Straily owns a 4.56 ERA in 803 1/3 innings split between the aforementioned six teams. He’s also pitched in the upper minors with the D-backs and Phillies.
Straily’s most recent MLB work came back in 2019, so he’s quite a ways removed from major league action at this point. Still, given the slate of pitching injuries that permeate Major League Baseball early every season, a nice run with the Ducks could be a springboard back into affiliated ball.
As for the 28-year-old Zuber, he was in spring training with the Guardians this year after signing a minor league deal but didn’t make the club after being torched for 10 runs on 10 hits and eight walks in just 5 1/3 innings. Zuber previously pitched for the Royals in 2020-21, debuting during the pandemic-shortened season with 22 innings of 4.09 ERA ball. He posted a gaudy 30.3% strikeout rate that year but coupled it with an alarming 20.2% walk rate. Overall, he’s pitched 49 1/3 big league frames with a 5.29 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 16.7% walk rate.
Command was never an issue for Zuber in the low minors. When looking at his minor league career as a whole, his 3.20 earned run average, 31.3% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate are all impressive. However, Zuber began to battle pronounced control struggles during that 2020 debut, and his penchant for walks carried over into subsequent seasons. Perhaps not coincidentally, he was plagued by shoulder troubles in 2021-22 — missing the entire 2022 season as a result. Zuber spent the 2023 season with Arizona’s Triple-A club and showed a somewhat improved 11.1% walk rate but also a diminished 20% strikeout rate in 20 2/3 innings.
As with Straily — and any big league veterans who sign with indie ball clubs — it’s possible that a good showing in Long Island will serve as a catalyst for renewed interest from affiliated clubs.
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