Zachary B. Kroenke (born April 21, 1984) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

Amateur baseball

High school

Zach went to

Omaha Northwest High School Omaha Northwest High Magnet School at 8204 Crown Point Avenue in northwest Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is located on a campus. Completed in 1971, it is the newest of the seven high schools in the Omaha Public Schools district. Further renova ...

. In his senior year he went 4–5 with a 3.42

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

and led the state with 90 strike outs in 53 innings. Team One Baseball rated him in the top 200 players in the country. He chose to go to Nebraska after looking at Kansas and Winthrop.

Nebraska

Kroenke played at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

for 3 years. He was one of the Big 12's best freshman pitchers in 2003. He made 10 starts in 15 appearances going 6–2 with a 2.72 ERA in 59.2 innings striking out 35 batters and walking 19. As a sophomore, he went 7–5 with a 3.03 ERA averaging 7 innings in 15 starts. He struck out 73 batters in 104 innings. After the 2004 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Zach helped the huskers reach the

2005 College World Series The 2005 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 30 through June 26, . Sixty-four NCAA Division I college baseball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in t ...

as a junior going 7–2 with a 2.78 ERA and a save in 20 appearances and 97 innings. He started in 16 games including 4 complete games. He struck out 88 and walking 28 opponents. He was drafted in the 5th round by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the

2005 Major League Baseball draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

Awards

*2002 First-Team All-Nebraska *2003 Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (4/10/03) *2003 NCAA Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team *2004 Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week (4/5/04) *2004 Second-Team All-Big 12 *2005 Second-Team All-Big 12

Professional baseball

New York Yankees

In , he started his professional career appearing in 11 games with Class-A

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

and made one start for the

Gulf Coast Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball e ...

, going 1–2 with a 2.63 ERA with both teams. he was placed on the disabled list on August 28 with an injury to his right hand and missed the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

playoffs. Zach went 8–9 with a 4.11 ERA in pitching in 127 innings. He made four starts with the

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

from April 10 to April 26 and was 0–3 with an 8.36 ERA before being transferred to Charleston. He appeared in 25 games with the Riverdogs, going 8–6 with a 3.58 ERA and ranked second on the club with 86 strikeouts. He started with the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

in the Eastern League going 0–1 with a 9.42 ERA and 2 saves in 15 games. He was demoted back to Tampa where he went 2–2 with a 2.27 ERA and 33 strike outs in 29 games. He started the 2008 season with the

, where he went 6–0 with an ERA of 3.09. After a great performance there, he was promoted to the Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the ...

late in the year. he made only 4 appearances with a 1.80 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 10 innings. On December 11, 2008, Kroenke was selected by 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 club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

in the Rule 5 draft. However, the Marlins returned him to the Yankees on March 16. Kroenke came back to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees for the season. He is 5–1 with a 1.03 ERA and 43.2 innings in 24 games.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 10, 2009, Kroenke was selected by the

in the Rule 5 draft. He did not make the team out of spring training, but he remained with the Diamondbacks with the Triple-A

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

, as players selected in the Rule 5 draft and returned to their previous team twice are able to elect free agency. Kroenke was promoted by the Diamondbacks on September 4, 2010. On October 6, 2012 Kroenke elected free agency.

Milwaukee Brewers

On November 15, 2012, Kroenke was signed to a minor league contract by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. He elected free agency on November 4, 2013.

Somerset Patriots

He signed with

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, that is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League, known as the Double-A Northeast in 2021, and ...

of The

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

for the 2014 season.

Washington Nationals

Kroenke signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

on May 23, 2014. He became a free agent after the 2014 season.

References

External links

*
Minor League StatsHuskers.com Awards, Bio, and Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroenke, Zach 1984 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players from Nebraska Charleston RiverDogs players Gigantes del Cibao players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Gulf Coast Yankees players Harrisburg Senators players Harwich Mariners players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players Reno Aces players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Somerset Patriots players Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Staten Island Yankees players Syracuse Chiefs players Tampa Yankees players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Trenton Thunder players