Robert John Zastryzny ( born March 26, 1992) is a Canadian-American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Missouri Tigers.

Early life

Zastryzny was born in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. His family moved to

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, when he was one year old. Zastryzny holds dual

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

citizenship, and was homeschooled.

Career

Amateur career

Zastryzny played for the Calallen High School baseball team as a

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, but began to focus on pitching by his junior year. He compiled a 26–4 win–loss record and an 0.71 earned run average (ERA) and 299 strikeouts, including a 17–1 record and an 0.20 ERA and 198 strikeouts in his senior year. He pitched a perfect game during his junior year. After graduating from Calallen, Zastryzny enrolled at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, where he played

for the Missouri Tigers. In three years at Missouri, Zastryzny had a 9–19 win–loss record and a 3.79 ERA with 228 strikeouts, the eighth-most in Tigers history.

Chicago Cubs

The

selected Zastryzny in the second round, with the 41st overall selection, of the 2013 MLB draft. He began his professional career with the Boise Hawks of the Low–A

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

, and was promoted to the Kane County Cougars of the Single–A Midwest League. He pitched for the Daytona Cubs of the High–A Florida State League in 2014. In 2015, he pitched for the Tennessee Smokies of the Double–A Southern League. After the 2015 regular season, the Cubs assigned Zastryzny to the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Zastryzny began the 2016 season with Tennessee, and received a mid-season promotion to the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League. On August 19, the Cubs promoted him to the major leagues. Zastryzny made 11 appearances for the Cubs to finish 2016, and finished 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA. The Cubs would eventually win the 2016 World Series, ending their 108-year drought. Zastryzny won his first World Series title. Zastryzny was added to the roster for the 2016 National League Championship Series, replacing Tommy La Stella who had been on the roster for the 2016 National League Division Series. Although eligible to play, he did not appear in any NLCS games. Zastryzny was replaced by Kyle Schwarber on the roster for the 2016 World Series. He was designated for assignment on September 1, 2018. He was outrighted to Iowa on September 3. Zastryzny was released by the Cubs organization on March 25, 2019.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On March 26, 2019, Zastryzny signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization. In 23 games (19 starts) split between the Double–A Tulsa Drillers and Triple–A Oklahoma City Dodgers, he compiled a 4–8 record and 5.58 ERA with 104 strikeouts across 113 innings pitched. After the season, on October 8, he was selected for the Canada national baseball team at the 2019 WBSC Premier12. Zastryzny elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Baltimore Orioles

On November 26, 2019, Zastryzny signed a minor league deal with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

organization. Zastryzny did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He spent most of the major league season on the team's 60-man alternate training site pool, but was released by the Orioles organization on September 18.

Miami Marlins

On March 26, 2021, Zastryzny signed with the Long Island Ducks of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. On May 4, prior to the 2021 ALPB season, Zastryzny's contract was purchased by the Miami Marlins. Zastryzny was assigned to the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. In 24 games for Jacksonville, he registered a 3.68 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 2 saves in innings pitched. He elected free agency following the season on November 7.

New York Mets

On November 29, 2021, Zastryzny signed a minor league deal with the

. On August 20, 2022, Zastryzny's contract was selected from Triple-A and was promoted to the major league roster. On August 21, Zastryzyny was optioned to the Triple–A Syracuse Mets. On August 22, Zastryzyny was designated for assignment.

Los Angeles Angels

On August 25, 2022, Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the

. On November 15, Zastryzny was designated for assignment by the Angels after they protected multiple prospects from the Rule 5 draft. On November 18, Zastryzny was non–tendered and became a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 22, 2022, Zastryzny signed a minor league deal with the

. He had his contract selected on March 30, 2023. In 18 appearances for Pittsburgh, he posted a 5.29 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 17.0 innings. After a brief stint on the injured list with left forearm inflammation, he was activated and promptly designated for assignment on July 7. Zastryzny cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple–A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

on July 10. On August 24, Zastryzny was selected back to the major league roster. He was designated for assignment again on September 4. On September 8, he cleared waivers and elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment.

Milwaukee Brewers

On December 12, 2023, Zastryzny signed a minor league contract with the

. In 28 games for the Triple–A Nashville Sounds, he compiled a 3.18 ERA with 38 strikeouts and 2 saves across innings pitched. On June 29, 2024, the Brewers selected Zastryzny's contract, adding him to their major league roster. In 9 games for Milwaukee, he compiled a 1.17 ERA with 5 strikeouts over innings pitched. Zastryzny was placed on the injured list with left elbow tendinitis on July 26, and transferred to the 60–day injured list on September 12.

New York Yankees

On November 4, 2024, Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the

. He was designated for assignment by the Cubs on February 4, 2025. On February 11, Zastryzny cleared waivers and was sent outright to the minors. He subsequently rejected the assignment and elected free agency on February 13. On February 17, 2025, Zastryzny signed a minor league contract with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. In 13 appearances for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, he recorded a 4.50 ERA with 12 strikeouts over 12 innings pitched.

Milwaukee Brewers (second stint)

On May 16, 2025, Zastryzny was traded to the

in exchange for cash considerations; he subsequently had his contract selected and was added to Milwaukee's active roster.

Personal life

Zastryzny married Natalie Sanchez in 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zastryzny, Rob 1992 births Living people Arizona League Cubs players Baseball players from Corpus Christi, Texas Boise Hawks players Canada national baseball team players Canadian emigrants to the United States Chicago Cubs players Daytona Cubs players Florida Complex League Marlins players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players Kane County Cougars players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball players from Canada Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Solar Sox players Milwaukee Brewers players Missouri Tigers baseball players Nashville Sounds players New York Mets players Oklahoma City Dodgers players Pittsburgh Pirates players Baseball players from Edmonton Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Syracuse Mets players Tennessee Smokies players Tulsa Drillers players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players 2023 World Baseball Classic players