I know the Bears just won a HUGE game against their arch rival in a game they were a 3-point underdog even though they were 2-0 just like the Packers AND playing at home…HUGE! And obviously the Cubs are WAY done, but I left ESPN on after the game and Baseball Tonight came on. They threw a stat up there about Zambrano that shocked me. With tonight’s 1-0 win over the Padres, that was Z’s 10th straight start giving up 2 runs or less in at least 5 innings. That’s a Cubs record for the “live ball era” (i.e. since 1920). So here are his stats over this last 10-game period:
10 GS 7-0* 64 IP 41 hits 9 ER 1.27 ERA
*The Cubs blew all three of his no-decisions Those are some pretty sick numbers…as much as most everyone believes the Cubs REALLY blew it with their #1 starter entering the season by demoting him to the pen so early in the season (after only 4 starts!) and then suspending him for over a month while sending him to anger management classes, it is even harder to argue with the results. Of course, there is definitely a “no pressure” factor in play here as the Cubs have been out of it for a LONG time so there really isn’t a lot of pressure right now, but I’m not sure I buy that completely. I think he puts an awful lot of pressure on himself and while that's not completely the same as playoff type pressure, it is still at least some pressure.
My question is - do the Cubs really know how much they need this guy? Did they have a premonition this season was going to end up in the dumpster and did this to get Z back to being the Z they signed to that $90 million contract a couple years ago? Nah....I don't believe that. I still think they TOTALLY screwed that up this year and have gotten VERY lucky with how it has turned out.
That's it for now...tick tock...another year of "Wait 'til Next Year" is about to wind down this weekend...next up is the pending manager signing screw up.
DA BEARS!!!
I do not buy the “no pressure” factor. Regardless of where a team is in the standings, starting pitchers face major league lineups everyday that want to knock you around and win the ball game. Besides, in those last 10 starts he faced the Giants, Padres and Cardinals each twice. The other four opponents were the Nationals, Pirates, Mets and Brewers.
ReplyDeleteThe Cub’s moved a career .607 W-L% pitcher to the bullpen and opted to stay with Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny and Randy Wells. This year Zambrano’s starting ERA is 3.21. If you remove his 2 worst starts and his 2 best starts, his ERA is 2.64.
Do you think the Cub’s need Zambrano next year?
I believe the Cub’s know they need him to be a part of the rotation next year. He’s been shopped and will be shopped during the off season. He will be 30 years young June 1st of next year and has 2 years left on his contract valued at 36M. I think the Cub’s could find a trade partner for him, but I’m not sure if such a trade would make the Cub’s better in 2011. It’s hard to imagine a team returning starting pitching for starting pitching unless the deal was about a change of scenery.
I hope the Cub’s aggressively pursue Cliff Lee. After Cliff lee, the remaining free agent starting pitchers are lackluster.