Ziegler’s ‘quirky’ delivery works
Brad Ziegler does things a little differently. Guess you could say he Ziegs while everybody else is zagging.
His delivery looks more suited for skipping rocks across a pond than for trying to get right-handed sluggers like Manny Machado or Nolan Arenado to ground into double plays.
Call it a submarine delivery. Say he’s throwing from underneath. Even compare his arm motion to that of Hall of Fame bowler Pete Weber.
“Most guys are releasing way up here by their head,” Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed said. “He’s releasing, essentially, down by his knees, at his feet.”
But don’t compare Ziegler to Jim Bouton, R.A. Dickey or Tim Wakefield. Those guys deviated from the norm, just as Ziegler does. But they did it with the knuckleball, the Hail Mary of pitches. It was their last resort.
Zieg’s choice
Ziegler’s delivery comes from a choice he made in the mid-2000s in the Oakland A’s system. He had gotten to Triple-A as a starter. And he wasn’t half bad.
“A lot of sliders. He was good,” said Giants outfielder Hunter Pence, describing what it was like to face Ziegler as an “over-the-top guy” back in the minors. “That’s why I was shocked when he went sidearm.”
Ziegler said Oakland “never told me, ‘We don’t think you have a shot overhand.’ If I didn’t want to do it, they wanted me back as a starter.
“It was never like a last resort kinda thing. It was, ‘We think this might get you there quicker, allow you to stick a little longer. But if you don’t want to do it, we still want to sign you back.’ I looked at it as an opportunity to maybe separate myself from other right-handed pitchers in the minor leagues at that time. Just be a little different.”
He’s different, all right, like Dizzy Gillespie playing that bent trumpet or Rick Barry chucking up granny-style free throws.
He said Oakland was the perfect place to learn the unorthodox delivery.
“That was the whole ‘Moneyball’ thing,” Ziegler said. “If you get outs, it doesn’t matter how you do it. They were willing to try quirkiness here and there, and it worked out.”
Rare, but effective
Hitting against Ziegler becomes an exercise in patience because the pitches take so long to get to the plate. And it’s an exercise in frustration because putting a bat on the ball isn’t tough, but making solid contact is impossible at times.
“We see a lot of guys coming out of the bullpen throwing 95-plus, going for a strikeout. So he’s a little change of pace, throwing from underneath and pitching to contact,” said Diamondbacks utility man Daniel Descalso, who faced Ziegler when the reliever pitched for the Marlins.
Ziegler sees being different as an advantage.
“Hopefully, for the fireballers who come in after me, (those pitches will) look even harder to the other team,” he said. “Because they’re facing 84 off of me, then 97 comes out, and it’ll look like 103.”
Archie Bradley’s fastball and sinker can touch the high 90s. He’s glad to have Ziegler around.
“His stuff plays in the big leagues,” Bradley said.
Ziegler has 11 years in the majors and was with Arizona from 2011 to 2015. He’s fifth all-time in team saves. And in one of those only-in-baseball coincidences, he’s right behind Byung-Hyun Kim, another submarine sidearmer.
It just goes to show that while guys with this delivery are rare, they’re not unheard of.
A couple generations ago, the Royals had Dan Quisenberry, a three-time All Star and a 1985 World Series champ, and the Pirates had Kent Tekulve, who had three saves in the 1979 Series.
If Arizona gets to the postseason, Ziegler is sure to play a vital role with his ability to coax double-play grounders.
“August and September baseball is about stopping momentum,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.
The strikeout is king these days, but “there’s still times where you need a double play. You need a ground ball,” Descalso said.
“Double plays can be a big momentum swing for a team.”
Ahmed knows as well as anyone what Ziegler can do with that hokeypokey delivery.
“Played with him for a few years here, then faced him last couple years in Miami,” Ahmed said, eager for some 6-4-3 and 4-6-3 opportunities that don’t come very often with a strikeout artist like Robbie Ray on the mound.
“(Ziegler)’s obviously got a different style than most pitchers. And he’s got a really high ability to get ground balls. Late in the game, with guys on base, that’s the stuff you need.”