After the 2006 season, I wrote a feature on A’s prospect Brad Ziegler, and how the organization had decided to convert him into a sidearmer. Year one of that experiment was overall quite the success, as Ziegler has a 1.14 ERA at Double-A Midland in 15 games before moving up to Triple-A Sacramento, where he had a 2.96 mark in 35 games, while compiling the usual outstanding groundball ratio that goes with the style. This year, he’s been even better as the River Cats closer, going 2-0 with eight saves and a 0.37 ERA in 19 games; allowing only 15 hits in 24.1 innings while walking four and striking out 20. His groundball ratio is nearly 3-to-1 and right-handers have nearly no shot against him, batting just .118/.135/.137. Now a quick note in the interest of full disclosure – Brad is a friend of mine. We talk quite a bit during the season over IM and text messages, and we made sure to have dinner together when I was in Arizona for spring training. He’s a good guy, a 28-year-old who was drafted in the 20th round five years ago, cut during the 2004 spring training, and now re-created as a different kind of beast. I woke up this morning to a text message from Brad – he got the call and is flying today to meet him with the A’s in Texas for a series with the Rangers. And whether you know Brad or not, it’s a pretty great story.
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