Former KU pitcher Mike Zagurski will be called up to the majors tomorrow by the Philadelphia Philles. Zagurski rise through the minors was amazingly rapid. He was drafted in June of 2005 in the 12th round and took less than two years to make his way up to the big leagues. This year Zagurski made the jump from high A ball, to double AA, and now to the majors all in less than two months. His minor league numbers this year are very impressive. 18 games, 1.17 ERA, 5 saves, 23.1 Innings, 8 hits, 6/38 BB/K. In 2006 he appeared in 42 games as a reliever in single A play, building a 4-4 record with a 3.51 ERA. He made his case.
Zagurski holds the KU single season record for strikeouts (112).
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| Year | W-L | ERA | Games | Innings | Hits | Walks | Strikeouts | |||
| 2004 | 4-4 | 4.81 | 19 | 73.0 | 87 | 41 | 70 | |||
| 2005 | 8-5 | 4.95 | 19 | 112.2 | 129 | 43 | 112 | |||
| Total | 12-9 | 4.89 | 38 | 185.2 | 216 | 84 | 182 | |||
Here is a profile of Zagurski from Phuture Phillies. It is not a glowing report. The evaluation projects Zagurski as a middle man who needs to keep his ball down and his body conditioned in order to have a future at the top level. Hopefully Mike will exceed these expectations. He certainly has changed some opinions already this year.
Zagurski is the third former Jayhawk to play in the majors this year. Tom Gorzelanny is having a great year in the Pittsburg starting rotation, (5-3, 2.51 ERA) and last week Travis Metcalf made his debut as the Texas Rangers third baseman.