Right-hander Zack Weiss was selected in the 6th round of the 2013 draft out of UCLA. The 21-year started out his career in the Arizona League after signing for $206,200.
In Arizona, Weiss would make two appearances. His first, on July 11th, he went 1.1 innings against the Royals allowing an unearned run on a hit and walk. He also hit a batter and struck out one. His next appearance was on July 15th, where he produced one strikeout in an inning of work against the Brewers. Weiss would then move up to Billings and get a win in his first showing there. In that game against Orem on the 20th, he went 2 innings but gave up 2 earned runs on 2 hits and hit one batter. He did not allow a walk but did record 2 strikeouts. On the 24th, he made his next appearance and Helena roughed him up in his one inning outing. Helena was able to score 4 unearned runs on 4 hits and struck out once. July would end on the 28th with a loss to Great Falls. Weiss threw 2 innings in which he allowed 3 runs, one earned, 3 hits, and struck out one. For the month, he compiled a 3.68 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Going 1-1 in 7.1 innings, he totaled one walk and 6 strikeouts.
On August 2nd, Weiss would face Great Falls again. This time, he would deliver 3 scoreless innings; giving up one hit and striking out 3 batters. Weiss made his first start of the season on the 6th against Missoula. He got the loss after giving up 3 runs, 2 earned, in 3 innings of work. Missoula was able to get 4 hits, walk twice, and struck out 3 times. The next start would produce a second loss in as many games. On the 11th, Helena scored 2 runs, one was earned. They also had 4 hits and struck out once in 2.2 innings. Weiss would rebound on the 16th, where he only allowed a solo home run and struck out 2 over 3 innings against Idaho Falls. On the 22nd, he would face Idaho Falls once again. This time, they got the better of him and gave him his third loss in August. In 3.1 innings, he allowed 4 earned runs on 5 hits, 3 of which were home runs, and struck out 2 batters. Weiss finished the month on the 27th, with a win in relief against Ogden. He provided 3 innings of work that saw one earned run score from 2 hits and struck out 2. In total, August saw him garner a 4.50 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. After throwing 18 innings, he went 1-3, had 14 strikeouts and walked only 2 batters.
Weiss made two 4-inning starts in September. The first, on the 2nd, he gave up one earned run on 4 hits, and walked 2 Helena batters. On the 7th, Missoula was held scoreless on 3 hits and 2 walks. Weiss yielded a season best 5 strikeouts in the game. In a short month of work, he flashed a 1.13 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 8 innings. He also walked 4 batters and struck out 5.
Season Stats
| Team | W | L | ERA | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | K/BB |
| AZL Reds | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.00 | 2.0 |
| Billings | 2 | 4 | 4.70 | 30.2 | 33 | 8 | 6 | 23 | 1.27 | 3.8 |
Overall Thoughts
Zack Weiss had a short, but good season after getting things started in mid-July. The right hander had solid peripherals outside of one big one, his home run rate. He allowed 8 home runs on the season, and while the Pioneer League is rather hitter friendly, that rate will need to be lowered as he moves forward. His walk rate was very low and his strikeout rate was solid.
For more player season review, you can see the entire list here.