The 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 165 lb (75 kg) left-hander was a native of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba.

Zabala played amateur baseball in Cuba in the mid-1930s, signing with the minor league Panama City Pelicans in 1937.

[1] He continued to play professionally in Cuba in the winter while pitching minor league ball independently, then with Jersey City, a Giants farm club.

Zabala made his major league debut on August 11, 1945, starting and winning 10–1 against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Polo Grounds.

[2] He pitched two seasons for the Pericos de Puebla,[1] then joined the Sherbrooke Athletics of the Provincial League in 1948 while he awaited reinstatement.