UNC Baseball: Zac Gallen to start on Opening Day

Former UNC Baseball pitcher Zac Gallen was announced as the Opening Day starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

We are just under a week away from the 2023 MLB season getting started. The Arizona Diamondbacks will begin their season on the road at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, March 30th, and today, they announced that former UNC Baseball pitcher Zac Gallen would be receiving the start.

Coming off a struggling 2021 season, Gallen had his best season as a professional pitcher at the major league level during the 2022 season for the Diamondbacks recording a 12-4 record with a 2.54 ERA in 31 games.

The Diamondbacks are still in the process of rebuilding their team this year and are projected to finish fourth in the NL West division. Gallen is presumed to be the ace pitcher in their starting rotation as he continues to be one of the up-and-coming pitchers in the league.

Gallen finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting at the end of the 2022 season. This will certainly be one of the Tar Heels in the pros that we keep our eyes on this summer throughout the MLB season. There is the potential that he can have a significant impact on a franchise looking for its first winning season since 2019, and first playoff appearance since 2017.

During his time at North Carolina, Gallen played for three seasons from 2014-2016. He played in 44 games as a Tar Heel, starting 42 of them. Gallen was 14-13 with a 3.36 ERA.

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