University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Three Diamond Heel Alums On 2023 MLB Opening Day Rosters
March 30, 2023 | Baseball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A trio of former Diamond Heels: Daniel Bard, Zac Gallen, and Jacob Stallings will be included on Opening Day rosters when the 2023 Major League Baseball season opens Thursday.
Bard, who was a member of the Tar Heels' 2006 national runner-up team, will be part of the Colorado Rockies bullpen and serve as its closer. Gallen is slated as the Arizona Diamondbacks' opening day starter while Jacob Stallings will likely start at catcher for the Miami Marlins.
Bard, the 2020 National League Comeback Player of the Year, converted 34 of 37 save opportunities last season and posted a 6-4 record with a 1.79 ERA. The 2006 first round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox, Bard retired from professional baseball in 2013 before making a comeback seven years later. During his three seasons in Chapel Hill, Bard compiled a 23-12 and struck 235 batters.
In 31 starts last season, Gallen went 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA, a WHIP of 0.91 and finished fifth in the Cy Young voting. He also had 192 strikeouts in 184.0 innings pitched. Selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Gallen earned All-ACC honors during his sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior when he went 4-3 with a 2.79 ERA and limited opponents to a .231 batting average.
The 2023 season will be Stallings' ninth big league campaign and second year with the Marlins. Originally drafted by Pittsburgh in 2012, Stallings was awarded a gold glove as a member of the Pirates in 2021. He was a four-year letterman (2009-12) for the Diamond Heels and a member of two College World Series teams in 2009 and 2011.
Both former Tar Heel pitchers will begin the season on the road as Gallen will face the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium while Bard and the Rockies start their 2023 campaign in San Diego against the Padres. Stallings and the Marlins will open their season at home against the Mets on Thursday.
Bard, who was a member of the Tar Heels' 2006 national runner-up team, will be part of the Colorado Rockies bullpen and serve as its closer. Gallen is slated as the Arizona Diamondbacks' opening day starter while Jacob Stallings will likely start at catcher for the Miami Marlins.
Bard, the 2020 National League Comeback Player of the Year, converted 34 of 37 save opportunities last season and posted a 6-4 record with a 1.79 ERA. The 2006 first round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox, Bard retired from professional baseball in 2013 before making a comeback seven years later. During his three seasons in Chapel Hill, Bard compiled a 23-12 and struck 235 batters.
In 31 starts last season, Gallen went 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA, a WHIP of 0.91 and finished fifth in the Cy Young voting. He also had 192 strikeouts in 184.0 innings pitched. Selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Gallen earned All-ACC honors during his sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior when he went 4-3 with a 2.79 ERA and limited opponents to a .231 batting average.
The 2023 season will be Stallings' ninth big league campaign and second year with the Marlins. Originally drafted by Pittsburgh in 2012, Stallings was awarded a gold glove as a member of the Pirates in 2021. He was a four-year letterman (2009-12) for the Diamond Heels and a member of two College World Series teams in 2009 and 2011.
Both former Tar Heel pitchers will begin the season on the road as Gallen will face the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium while Bard and the Rockies start their 2023 campaign in San Diego against the Padres. Stallings and the Marlins will open their season at home against the Mets on Thursday.
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