The Cubs continued with last year's blueprint of selecting a pitcher with their second pick. It also continues a trend of finding players with unpronounceable names. Many assume there will a another run on pitching to stock pile the system.
With the 41st pick, the Cubs selected Rob Zastryzny, a left handed pitcher from Missouri. MLB.com remarks that he has a
good feel for the craft of pitching. His fastball typically sits in the
upper-80s, but Zastryzny has the ability to add and subtract velocity as
necessary.
His fastball velocity typically ranges from 86 mph to 94 mph.However, some scouts were impressed with a 95 mph radar gun blast during the SEC tournament. Zastryzny uses his height – he's listed at 6-foot-3 – to create a
downhill angle for his fastball, which has late action. Zastryzny also
throws a changeup and slider.
He commands his whole arsenal well and all three of his pitches have the
chance to be at least Major League-average offerings.
With the move to the SEC, his record went down to 2-9 with increased league competition. The explanation was run support. Zastryzny put together a solid junior season in which he tallied a 3.38 ERA in 13
starts, but his Tiger offense averaged just
2.5 runs per game in his starts. He had 82 strikeouts in 90.2 innings as he moved his career total to 228, tying him for eighth all-time in Missouri history. He allowed just 34 earned runs with one complete game shutout, coming on Friday night at Georgia. He pitched three complete games on the season and walked just 24 batters in 90.2 innings.
If Zastryzny is the "crafty" lefty as his bio indicates, that may be a longer road to the majors than most hard throwing fastball pitchers like Strasberg, Gonzalez or recently Gausman. The Cubs do not have a lot of left handed starters in the minor leagues. I would expect the Cubs to sign Zastryzny easily and assign him to Class A.
