After nearly 13 years, McAllister back in SWB
Aug. 6—MOOSIC — Last time Zach McAllister made that walk down to the field, the guy starting in left field for the RailRiders on Saturday, Everson Pereira, was 9 years old.
When the PNC Field gates aren't yet open to fans, most players choose to slip out of the clubhouse, across the concourse and through the stands to get to the diamond for their pregame workouts. It's quicker than heading down and out through the dugout.
McAllister didn't need any direction. The shortcut is one of the few things here that's still the same.
Nearly 13 years after he last pitched for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, McAllister joined the RailRiders on Saturday after coming back to the Yankees organization on a minor league deal. The 35-year-old has experienced somewhat of a late-career renaissance after reinventing his arm angle before the 2022 season, and was posting his best strikeout numbers across 37 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A team this year.
"A lot," McAllister said when asked what's different about himself since his last game as a Yankees prospect, Aug. 17, 2010. "Lower arm slot. Little bit more mature. Married. The whole gambit."
McAllister was a third-round pick in the 2006 draft and one of New York's top pitching prospects when he made it to Triple-A for the 2010 season. He made 24 starts for the SWB Yankees and had a 5.09 ERA before he was traded to the Cleveland Indians as the player to be named later in a deadline deal that sent outfielder Austin Kearns to New York.
"It was kind of always one of my goals, whenever I was done playing, to have an opportunity to be a Yankee again and hopefully accomplish something that I didn't when I was here and get to the big leagues," McAllister said. "But this is a dream for me again, to get back here. Excited to be here.
"It's everybody's goal to be in the big leagues. And then I got drafted by them and hit every single level but one and that's the big leagues. And so, it would be kind of icing on the cake for me from that standpoint to have that opportunity to get back and hopefully contribute in some way."
McAllister had his share of success since leaving the Yankees. He's appeared in 280 games in the majors, most in relief, and at his best was a key member of Cleveland's bullpen. There, he was also teammates with his new manager, Shelley Duncan.
Does seeing McAllister still out there playing make the 43-year-old Duncan feel like he could be out there, too?
"No. No. There's no — no," Duncan laughed. "I told him it's amazing that he's still doing it. It's awesome. It's great for him."
From 2015-17, McAllister had a 2.99 ERA for Cleveland while striking out 10.0 per nine innings. He later appeared in the bigs with Detroit, and has spent time in the minors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Diamondbacks.
When injuries started to impact his ability to pitch as frequently and as comfortably as he wanted, McAllister decided to change the way he threw the ball. He switched to a much lower release point and almost immediately saw positive results.
In 2022, with Triple-A Memphis — where he was teammates with Abington Heights grad Cory Spangenberg — he had a 3.99 ERA and struck out 12.0 per nine innings. This season, with Triple-A Reno — where he was teammates with Scranton's Jake McCarthy — he was striking out out 12.7 per nine innings, by far the best rate of his career.
"I like to consider myself a power pitcher still," said McAllister, who averaged 92.0 mph on his sinker in his most recent game with Reno. "I know I don't have the big-time, 100-mph fastball and all that, but I think the extension that I have and pitching up in the zone and doing that I think gives me the same feeling as being a power pitcher.
"I think (the new arm slot) changed metrics on my fastball and pitches, but as far as how I want to pitch, not necessarily no."
In 2012, pitcher Nelson Figueroa joined the SWB Yankees after pitching for the Red Barons in 2001. When he appears in a game, McAllister, who last pitched at PNC Field on Aug. 11, 2010, when the stadium still had a second deck of seats, will have bettered Figueroa's gap by two years.
"Yeah, it does (feel like 13 years)," McAllister said. "Definitely feel like I've been in this game for a long time. It's exciting to be back, though, and have an opportunity again."
Krook progressing
Matt Krook, who hasn't pitched since July 18 because of a back issue, was throwing weighted balls before Saturday's game against Rochester.
The left-handed reliever threw a bullpen earlier in the week, then didn't come out for pregame work either of the next two days.
"It's kind of just coming and going and it's, I think, giving him a great deal of frustration," RailRiders pitching coach Graham Johnson said. "Obviously, I want to see him out there, but at the same time, we can't put him in a spot where he's going out there and working with less than his normal stuff or is afraid to do something because of the way it might feel."
Krook has been one of the most dominant relievers in the minors this season, pitching to a 1.05 ERA while striking out 16.1 batters per nine innings.
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