Zach Stewart joins New Britain for his 11th year of professional baseball and first in the Atlantic League. Last year, the former big leaguer appeared in seven games for Triple-A Norfolk (Baltimore Orioles) of the International League. Prior to that, he spent two seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization with the NC Dinos, where he started 46 combined games and compiled a 20-10 record with a 3.73 ERA and 227 strikeouts over the course of 267.2 innings pitched.

The 31-year-old was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the 2008 MLB amateur draft. The following year, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a deal for Scott Rolen. The righthander would spend a couple seasons in the Blue Jays organization before making his Major League debut with Toronto in 2011. He would also spend time in the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. Overall, he appeared in 33 Major League games (14 starts), recording three wins and 64 strikeouts in 101.0 innings of work, including a complete game shutout of the Minnesota Twins on September 5, 2011, where he only allowed one hit and struck out nine batters.

He holds a record of 55-53 with a 3.73 ERA and 806 strikeouts over the course of 1,035.2 innings in 227 minor league appearances (169 starts).