Big Z Wants A Crack At Hitting
Carlos Zambrano has been the most dominant pitcher for the Cubs over the last 6 years or so. He has consistently won double digit games, struck out a ton of hitters, and had a sub-3.50 ERA. In fact, he will probably be the opening day starter for the Cubs again this year (unless Dempster gets the ball, but that seems unlikely). Well Z thinks he should be able to hit, and as per usual with him, it’s tough to tell if he’s kidding or not:
“Torre got it right,” Zambrano said.
Zambrano was referring to Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who inserted starter Randy Wolf into the No. 2 hole in Friday’s game against the Cubs.
Piniella laughed but kept Zambrano in the No. 9 spot, where he singled in his only at-bat.
Afterward, Zambrano joked he would retire from pitching to concentrate on hitting.
“I’ll go to the minor leagues, get some at-bats and come back as a right fielder or left fielder,” he said. “Move [ Alfonso] Soriano to second base. Why not? If [Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel] can do it, why not?”
Well for starters, how about because Zambrano is the Ace in our rotation, and we need a dominant starter far more than we need a corner outfielder. I don’t doubt Z could be an effective hitter. He can hit from both sides of the plate with power, although he doesn’t draw enough walks (Has he ever walked?). Regardless, I don’t think it’s gonna happen big guy. And some of you may be thinking that having Fonzy play second base would be good for our defense regardless of whether Z was playing the outfield. Think again, his errors at second base as a Ranger and Yankee were just as frequent as they are in left field as a Cub.
Anyways, Z should stick to pitching, talking to God on the mound, emailing his brother all night, and growing moustaches. I love that moustache.
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