Quick Facts
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Zachary Taylor McAllister (born December 8, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. He was drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in 2006. After several seasons in the Yankees minor league system, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 2010. McAllister made his major league debut in July 2011 and earned his first major league win in May 2012.
High school career
McAllister played basketball and baseball for Illinois Valley Central High School out of Chillicothe, Illinois throughout his high school career. His senior year, McAllister was a key component to bringing IVC enroute to its first IHSA State Finals appearance against Seneca HS for the Class 1A Boy's Basketball State championship. Despite losing to Seneca 44-47, McAllister was a key player scoring 10 points total for the Ghosts. Three months later, McAllister brought the Grey Ghosts back to the State Finals this time for the Class 1A State Baseball championship against Trenton (Wesclin) HS. McAllister entered the State final boasting an 11-1 record, .475 BA, 107 SO, and a .74 ERA.
McAllister was named Gatorade Illinois Baseball Player of the Year for 2005-2006.
Professional career
McAllister was drafted by the New York Yankees in the third round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft out of Illinois Valley Central High School. McAllister was ranked the Yankees' sixth best prospect prior to the 2009 season, according to Baseball America, and their fifth best prospect prior to the 2010 season. He was named the Yankees' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2009 for his performance with the Double-A Trenton Thunder. However, he struggled in 2010 with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.
At the 2010 MLB trade deadline, the Yankees and Seattle Mariners almost completed a deal that would have sent McAllister, Jesús Montero, and David Adams to the Seattle Mariners for Cliff Lee. When the teams shared medical reports, the Mariners determined that Adams' ankle was broken, not sprained. As a result, they chose to trade Lee to the Texas Rangers in a package centered on Justin Smoak.
On August 20, he was revealed to be the player to be named later in the July 30 trade between the Yankees and Cleveland Indians for Austin Kearns. After the 2010 season, McAllister was added to the Indians' 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
After teammate Fausto Carmona was sent to the disabled list, McAllister was activated and made his major league debut against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 7, 2011 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. McAllister earned his first MLB victory on May 7, 2012 against the Chicago White Sox.
In a May 13, 2012 road game against the Boston Red Sox, McAllister started in place of injured pitcher Josh Tomlin and recorded a career-high 8 strikeouts in a 4-1 loss. McAllister pitched 7 innings and gave up 4 runs on 8 hits. McAllister recorded the shortest outing of his career on August 6, pitching 1.2 innings. He gave up 9 runs, 2 earned.
He was designated for assignment on August 1, 2014, and optioned to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers on August 3.
At the end of the 2016 regular season, McAllister finished with a 3.44 ERA and would be added to the postseason roster as the Indians clinched its first Central divsion title since 2007. On October 17, 2016, McAllister made his first postseason debut as the fourth pitcher of Game 3 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays. He faced three batters before giving up one run, before being pulled in favor of Bryan Shaw. During Game 2 of the World Series, McAllister made his second postseason appearance relieving Trevor Bauer. McAllister pitched through the fifth inning with two strikeouts before issuing a walk and two earned runs.
Pitching style
From 2010 to 2014, McAllister threw a four-seam and two-seam fastball in the low 90s, a cut fastball in the mid-high 80s, a changeup averaging about 80, and a curveball in the high 70s. Some sources also list him as throwing a slider. Since being converted into a reliever in 2015, McAllister now relies on 3 pitches only.