Clay Pflibson Zavada (born June 28, 1984) is a former professional baseball

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, ...

who pitched in

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 ...

for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

in 2009. He is noted for his

Rollie Fingers Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985. His effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseball an ...

moustache A moustache (; mustache, ) is a growth of facial hair grown above the upper lip and under the human nose, nose. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French language, French, and i ...

Early career

Zavada attended Illinois Valley Community College and then transferred to

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. Located within the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Ca ...

. Playing with the

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

in the spring before his debut, Zavada struck out 18 in 17 and 1/3 innings with an ERA of 2.60, limiting batters to a .169 average.http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090522&content_id=4882786&vkey=news_ari&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari

Arizona Diamondbacks

Clay Zavada was originally drafted to the

in the 30th round of 2006 out of

. Zavada left baseball after the death of his father in the winter following his first pro season. Upon receiving his business degree, he returned to play baseball for the

Southern Illinois Miners The Southern Illinois Miners were a professional baseball team based in Marion, Illinois. The Miners were members of the West Division of the independent Frontier League. From 2007 to 2021, the Miners played their home games at Rent One Park. T ...

, an independent team. Zavada was called up to the Diamondbacks for the first time on May 13, but was returned to Double-A baseball

the next day to make room for debut starter Bryan Augenstein. He was recalled on May 21, and made his Major League debut the next day. In his MLB debut, Clay entered the game in relief of starter

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984), nicknamed "Mad Max", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tige ...

and threw a perfect seventh inning, defeating his rookie opponent Christian Martinez, who was also making his major league debut for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

. After failing to make the team in 2010 and struggling in AAA, Zavada had

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

and missed the entire 2010 season. He pitched in the minor leagues from 2011 to 2013, but did not return to the Major Leagues.

Gary SouthShore RailCats

In 2013, Zavada played for the

Gary SouthShore RailCats The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a professional baseball team based in Gary, Indiana, in the United States. The RailCats are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The Ra ...

of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zavada, Clay 1984 births Living people Baseball players from LaSalle County, Illinois Major League Baseball pitchers Arizona Diamondbacks players Missoula Osprey players Mobile BayBears players Sportspeople from Streator, Illinois Illinois Valley Community College alumni SIU Edwardsville Cougars baseball players South Bend Silver Hawks players Southern Illinois Miners players Reno Aces players Memphis Redbirds players Gary SouthShore RailCats players San Antonio Missions players