Getting to Know Royals Relief Pitcher Tyler Zuber
In 2017, the Kansas City Royals selected Tyler Zuber in the sixth round of the MLB Draft. Zuber was coming off a collegiate career at Arkansas State University.
In year one of his professional career, Zuber pitched for the Burlington Royals. In the same year, he received a call-up to the Lexington Legends. By year three, he worked work his way through the system and make his debut for the Royals at the MLB level. On July 24th, 2020, during a year where fans were not allowed in the stands due to a global pandemic, Zuber threw his first major league pitch.
Jacob Milham of Inside The Royals, as well as myself, recently had the opportunity to interview Zuber on our podcast, The Royals Rundown. This was an incredible opportunity and we want to thank Tyler for his time. In the episode, we discussed his call up to the big leagues and the experience he had working with manager Mike Matheny. We also talked about the impact that players such as Danny Duffy, Greg Holland, and Wade Davis had on him as a pitcher. We all share the hobby of collecting baseball cards, and Tyler briefed us on how he fell in love with the hobby and how it has evolved from when he opened his first pack of cards.
Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report had the following to say about Zuber:
“Zuber throws 93-95 and can bump it harder as needed. He throws a fastball, curve, slider, and change. The change was already good on draft day and the curve and slider have improved since then as well. Zuber has gotten a high number of strikeouts so far in his professional career posting 12.52 K/9. During 2018, Zuber posted a swing-and-miss rate of 14 percent but it was only 9 percent after his promotion to Wilmington in early July. He will look to improve that as he seemed to tire at the end of last season. Zuber does a good job elevating his fastball when he is ahead in the zone and using his breaking balls as chase pitches. The Royals praise Zuber for his competitiveness and bulldog mentality. Zuber fills up the zone and isn’t afraid to attack any hitter. He limits runners posting a 2.64 BB/9 rate and a 1.34 WHIP in 78.1 career innings. Guys who are competitive on the mound are a very valuable commodity in baseball. You need to build your team on these players.”
Zuber’s goals for 2022?
Zuber informed us that his first goal is to make the big league club out of Spring Training. Zuber continued, "Basically, in my head, use the training that I have done this offseason and solidify myself and say 'the guy that you guys drafted in 2017, the guy that I have shown through the minors, this is the guy... you're getting the best version of Tyler Zuber.'” His confidence was quite impressive.
The Royals have young talent rising through the ranks, and Zuber is a perfect example of that. We look forward to his progress and his success in 2022 as the Royals look to legitimately compete.
