March 13, 2020

By Connor Reid

Canadian Baseball Network

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - When a batter steps up to the plate, one of the last things he wants to see is an aggressive pitcher with a variety of pitches.

Canadian Junior National Team pitcher Calvin Ziegler (Heidelberg, Ont.) is one of those pitchers. He can control a large part of the game when his fastball is working.

“I have a pretty firm fastball for my age so guys aren’t really used to seeing that,” Ziegler said.

On March 11, Ziegler was one of three pitchers on the mound when the Canadian National Junior Team took on minor-league players from the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He tossed three innings and allowed three runs, while striking out a trio of batters.

Ziegler is the No. 7 ranked pitching prospect on the Canadian Baseball Network’s 2020 Draft List thanks largely to his low-to-mid 90s fastball and curveball.

Recently he started to master the changeup. It was one of the things he wanted to improve on in the off-season.

“It’s a tough pitch to learn, but with my pitching coaches, Jon Fitzsimmons and Shane Davis, its just really improved and it works. When I get it low, it gets a lot of hitters,” Ziegler said.

National Junior Team Head Coach Greg Hamilton has also seen improvement in Ziegler’s second year on the team. ‘

“It helps him out a lot, especially when it’s controlled,” Hamilton said.

Ziegler will attend the University of Connecticut in the fall. When asked why he picked that school, he said that he really liked the surroundings and that he began to build new relationships with his future teammates

Ziegler also mentioned that they have had some great pitchers progress at UConn, “some of the players that have been there and their growth while there. If I could just get a little more growth as a pitcher, that would be awesome.”