Rob Zastryzny

Robert John Zastryzny (born March 26, 1992) is a Canadian-American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he played college baseball for the Missouri Tigers of the University of Missouri.

Early life
Zastryzny was born in Edmonton, Alberta. His family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, when he was one year old. Zastryzny holds dual Canadian-American citizenship, and was homeschooled.

Career
Zastryzny played for the Calallen High School baseball team as a pitcher and first baseman, but he began to focus on pitching by his junior year. He compiled a 26–4 win-loss record and a 0.71 earned run average (ERA) and 299 strikeouts, including a 17–1 record and a 0.20 ERA and 198 strikeouts in his senior year. He pitched a perfect game during his junior year.

After graduating from Calallen, Zastryzny then enrolled at the University of Missouri, where he played college baseball 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.

The Chicago Cubs selected Zastryzny in the second round, with the 41st overall selection, of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. He began his professional career with the Boise Hawks of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, and was promoted to the Kane County Cougars of the Class A Midwest League. He pitched for the Daytona Cubs of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in 2014. In 2015, he pitched for the Tennessee Smokies of the Class AA 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 of the Class AAA 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.