On Wednesday, his 39th birthday, former Marlins right-hander Brad Ziegler announced his retirement from baseball.
The note posted to Ziegler’s Twitter account reflects on the adversity he faced early on. A 20th-round draft pick of the Phillies in 2003, he was released after just six innings of game action. The journey to his eventual major league debut in 2008 involved a stint in the independent leagues, surviving a skull fracture and completely reinventing his delivery to compensate for a lack of fastball velocity.
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Ziegler led the league in relief appearances this past season, so he could surely secure a contract for 2019 if interested.