Zach Duke tried to put last season as far behind as possible, which is why he moved from his offseason home in Pittsburgh back to his native Texas last fall.
"I love Pittsburgh, but I like to be outside, and it's hard to be outside in the winter when you live in the North," Duke said. "I just thought it was the best thing all the way around to move back to Texas. The weather makes it easier to work out, and I thought I needed a break from Pittsburgh so I could kind of separate my personal life from my professional life and really have more of an offseason." It would be easy to see why Duke wanted to get away from Pittsburgh at the end of 2008.
Just two pitchers in the National League had more losses, as Duke went 5-14 with a 4.82 ERA in 31 starts. The Giants' Barry Zito was 10-17, and the Nationals' John Lannan finished 9-15.
However, Duke has looked like a different pitcher through his first four appearances this spring, allowing two runs in 9 2/3 innings.
Duke credits his spring success to hiring what he calls "an arm-strengthening specialist" once he settled into the Dallas/Fort Worth area last fall.
"We did a lot of work on getting my arm stronger than it's ever been through a series of exercises and stretching," Duke said. "I really feel great. I'm not the type of guy who is ever going to blow guys away with my fastball, but I do feel like I have a little more on it than the last few years."
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