- I got this autograph in 2016. At the time Daniel Zamora was playing with the Pirates A-ball team in West Virginia.
- He was having a very nice season pitching in relief, allowing only 23 hits while striking out 39 in 33.1 innings.
- The numbers are great, but what I really liked was that he was having success as a guy who was drafted in the 40th round of the 2015 draft out of Stony Brook.
- 40th round guys…are not known for having long careers.
- He finished 2016 strong and then turned in back to back strong seasons in High-A.
- I am not the only one who noticed what a strong prospect he was becoming: in January 2018 he was traded to the Mets for LHP Josh Smoker.
- He spent most of 2018 in AA, going 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA/1.026 WHIP over 51.2 innings. Very nice numbers–and at a level that can be a challenge for pitchers.
- His reward for a strong season was a call-up to the big leagues. He got 9 innings in with the Mets in 2018, allowing six hits and striking out 16.
I think this 40th round prospect is about as legit a pen prospect as you are going to find.