Carlos Zambrano 2012: A New Man

[HUGG]

1 out away from a CGSHO

that was his first start though, he pitched in relief, and won, in Colorado first

[Beef]

Yeah, his first start was cool.

Embit, do you still think he was wronged by the Marlins?

[MiamiHomer]

Joe Frisaro @JoeFrisaro

Big Z lowers ERA to 1.88, 2 R 1 ER, 7 ks over 7 IP. No decision #Marlins #Mets #Cubs

...

[Namaste]

Guy is quickly penetrating my top 5 favorite Marlins. Quick penetration.

[Jay]

So I guess we can definitely say those reports from the winter league where Big Z was back throwing filth were completely accurate now.

I think everyone (with the exception of mibs) thought this was going to be a definite upgrade. But did anyone think it was going to turn out this well.

For the record he currently ranks 9th in ERA.

Is anyone worried that he will tire at the end of the year? I don't know his history playing winter ball or splits (and I'm being lazy).

[Namaste]

Let's keep in mind it's the middle of May before we swallow his entire load.

But it's real fun so far.

[Ramp]

you are the one who put him dangerously close to being in your fave 5 marlins though, right?

[Miamarlin21]

Let's keep in mind it's the middle of May before we swallow his entire load.

But it's real fun so far.

I spit.

[Metes]

Gross

[MiamiHomer]

Yep, he's back.

[Namaste]

Guy is quickly penetrating my top 5 favorite Marlins. Quick penetration.

I just realized I didn't put "current" Marlins in this post. This was an error on my part.

Because I left it out, Ramp is breaking my balls.

[Ramp]

Incorrect.

I am breaking your balls because it's fun.

[emkayseven]

On Memorial Day, Carlos Zambrano spun his eighth quality start in his 10th turn as a Marlin. In all of the stories of happy comebacks, this one may not get all that much play. But seeing him pitch effectively for the Marlins, for a manager getting his own second chance -- or so -- it’s a bet made, and so far, won by the Marlins’ front office and by Ozzie Guillen. They were correct in their assessment that the Venezuelan workhorse could still help carry a club as a capital-A asset instead of being a… quadruped’s keister.

There’s nothing especially funky to why Zambrano has been more effective this season. Maybe you can call it a case of getting a change of scenery, as long as you don’t ascribe Zambrano’s comeback to his new home park: If you’re already convinced that Marlins Park will be a pitching haven, Zambrano hasn’t been starting any more often in Miami, splitting his 10 starts evenly between home and road. He’s walking more people than your average bear, posting a strikeout rate just a little bit over league average, 18.4 percent to 17.9 percent, nothing to shrug off from a starting pitcher.

For Big Z, this has been equal parts reinvention and renewal. The beefy right-hander’s fastball has lost yet another tick, sitting around 89 instead of 90, and as much as you can place faith in Pitch F/X’s ability to properly pigeon-hole off-speed offering, it looks like he’s relying on his splitter more now than he did in his days in Wrigleyville.

Perhaps more significantly, his ratio of ground balls to fly balls is higher than it’s been since 2003, something a lot more important for his future than a nice dip in his ratio of home runs to fly balls: If he allows fewer fly balls in the first place, it’s going to be harder for more people to hit home runs at all. Regression monkeys will no doubt despair over an FIP or xFIP a run higher than his current ERA, fearing what that portends for the future, but I’d suggest that if, two months ago, you’d get an ERA anywhere between 3.80 and 4.00 from Zambrano every fifth day, the Fish would still be down with this deal.

So he isn’t the power pitcher he was back in his heyday, back when he was the best Venezuelan import among the Cubs’ highly-touted power arms in the early Aughties. But he is the guy who has actually delivered while the other, more famous guys like Mark Prior and Kerry Wood tried and failed and broke down. He’s the one who’s still here, having pitched 500 more innings than the now-retired Wood, or 1,200 more than Prior, the man with the so-called “perfect mechanics.” He’s the guy from the 2003 Cubs with the most career WAR, though that might be seen as a case of setting the bar low.

He isn’t even the most famous ex-Chicago pitcher on the staff, taking a back seat on that score to Mark Buehrle… while throwing one more quality start than the former White Sox stalwart. Instead, Zambrano’s tied with Anibal Sanchez with a team-leading eight, and just two of those have been the bare-minimum six-inning, three-run jobs. Not bad for a guy slotted as his new team’s fifth starter at the outset, and certainly better than Chris Volstad, the guy he was dealt for when the Cubs’ new regime dumped Z. Volstad’s now yet another one of the Cubs’ children in the corn, laboring in ignominy for Iowa.

Maybe the problem with touting this particular comeback is that Zambrano’s relationship with the media might be best described as "fickle." After all of the meltdowns, and perhaps especially all of the overreactions to his overreactions, there might be something quaint about the notion that the Big Z is simply news for how he’s pitching, not what he’s saying or doing.

How much any of that really matters in terms of having any impact on Zambrano’s career would be guesswork at best, and how much that matters in terms of his return to usefulness probably means even less. But Zambrano’s back. I say we enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...arlos-zambrano

[nny]

guess this should actually go here

How much longer does the Zambrano experiment last?

Over his last 12 starts (62 IP), he has a 6.39 ERA and 46! BB to 40 K. He averages 0.75 walks per inning in that time frame and has only made one decent start (june 3, 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K).

The recent history is even worse: 8 starts, 36.1 IP, 7.69 ERA, 34 BB (Very close to 1 BB per IP), just 23 K. Oh and another 7 guys on base by HBP.

I know he's making the minimum so he's not exactly problematic but if we're giving up on this year and there's no way he should be here next year with these kind of outings, I think it's time to give the 5th slot to a young guy to see who's taking Anibal's place. Give him until July 31st to build up any kind of trade value and if there's nothing, just DFA him.

You've got Leblanc, Hand, Koehler, and Sanabia all possible fill ins. My preference would be Leblanc in the rotation, call up Sanabia for his spot in the bullpen but would also completely understand Koehler in the BP since he's 26 and as a "it's now or never" kind of thing while giving Hand and Sanabia constant innings since they are only 22/23 (And that's probably his destination anyway).

[emkayseven]

I don't know that Zambrano is tradeable. If he isn't, I don't know that you cut cut/DFA him. He got off to a torrid start, and much was made this offseason about how he changed etc. etc. etc. It would be more of the organization proclaiming that they were wrong, which they aren't prone to do.

He's still better than Volstad though