Z asks Lou to bat him 2nd, possibly move him to the OF
by flachimesa on Mar 7, 2009 9:20 PM CST
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Carlos Zambrano wants to bat 2nd after Dodgers manager Joe Torre batted Friday's starter Randy Wolf in the No. 2 hole against the Cubs.
He also is contemplating taking flyballs in the outfield.
"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?"
OK, so this was said jokingly by Z, but moving the Big Z up in the order (not necessarily in the 2-hole) may not be such a bad play. Give it some thought, Lou. Moving him to the OF? Hmmm....no!
Well....wait....he may be as good defensively as Micah Hoffpauir.
Again, this was said jokingly by Zambrano.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.
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He also said he could catch
and bat left handed
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by Fuk-U-Meter on Mar 7, 2009 10:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
He does...hence the switch hitter status.
"Pounding sand since 1982...."
by cubswynn on Mar 7, 2009 11:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Carlos Zambrano is an skilled baseball player!
He’s clearly a very good hitter and you’d have to be tempted to put him into a better position in the batting order, whatever that is. On the other hand, the Cubs need to do whatever is in the best interests of the team. And it maybe in the best interests of the team to bat him as few times as necessary. I don’t have a strong opinion on this subject, so I’d like to read what posters here have to say on this subject.
You have to admire the fact that Carlos Zambrano is such a skilled baseball player and athlete. Kudos to Carlos!
by DrCrawdad on Mar 7, 2009 10:22 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I could see
him converting into an outfield role when his pitching dayts are behind him… Let’s hope nowhere in the near future.
by Steve Sax on Mar 8, 2009 1:11 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Problem is substitution
Z may be the best hitter on the team (or at least the most talented), so it makes sense have him near the top of the order. Problem is you’d have to pull a double-switch every time you removed Z from the game to avoid having a lousy hitter sanwdwiched between two run producers.
by Ryan D on Mar 8, 2009 3:19 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Wait, wait, wait...
… Z is a good hitter… but I have also seen him look really bad in some AB. Remember all those bats broken over his knee? Do we want to see that four times a game if he has a bad day?
Wolf batted second the other day because Torre wanted to get him a plate appearance, something starting pitchers don’t get early in ST because they only go three innings. It’s not a bad idea this early in the spring.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
by Al on Mar 8, 2009 3:57 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I agree that experiments in ST.........
aren’t a bad idea, thus, let’s try Sori at 2nd.
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
by Clutche on Mar 8, 2009 12:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Experiments, yes; lunacy, no.
Soriano at 2B would be lunacy. Letting a pitcher bat 2nd so he can get an extra AB in ST is useful.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
by Al on Mar 8, 2009 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Second Leadoff hitter
In the AL the 9th spot in the order is pretty important. I believe they call it the second leadoff hitter.
Is Big Z the prototypical second leadoff hitter… well only in so much as Sori is a Leadoff hitter.
by trefrog66 on Mar 8, 2009 5:07 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
Z agrees with me.............
that Soriano should move to 2nd. I know, i know you all will say he’s brutal at 2nd, but he’s equally bad in LF. Why not try a few starts at 2nd in ST? You never know, and maybe he’d do less day-dreaming in the infield.
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
by Clutche on Mar 8, 2009 12:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Because it's a bad idea.
Seriously, what does it take to get this into your head? Alfonso Soriano is one of the best LF in the game, but he’s a bad 2B. The Cubs have an in-house alternative, Mike Fontenot, who is a good hitter and an above-average defensive player. If you move Soriano to 2B, Fontenot is out of a job (or put back onto the bench) and you’re starting Reed Johnson in LF instead. Would you really prefer that?
Feel free to ignore this, as it contains a little bit of sense and logic which you seem to avoid in just about everything you write.
"Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them, well, I have others." - Groucho Marx
by Keith on Mar 8, 2009 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Love...exciting and new...come aboard...we're expecting you...
My sig line is out for jury duty.
by dat cubfan daver on Mar 9, 2009 10:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
He is NOT "equally bad" in left field
Soriano is actually a pretty good left-fielder.
Stop this.
"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella
by drewishdrewid on Mar 10, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The fact that you went back to the...
…“move Soriano back to 2B” well is, well, staggering.
My sig line is out for jury duty.
by dat cubfan daver on Mar 10, 2009 10:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Geeeeeeeeeeeeez...........
another Micah bashing
If you had to choose just one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
by Clutche on Mar 8, 2009 12:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Micah may be able to hit, but Micah doesn't play OF gracefully
"Every team will win 60 games, every team will lose 60 games, it's what the team does in the other 42 games that decides the season."
by flachimesa on Mar 8, 2009 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
"Not gracefully" is being kind.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
by Al on Mar 8, 2009 1:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
have to agree with Clutche
everyone knows that Micah can hit the ball, and is not the best OFer there is. But to see it mentioned every time that the chance presents itself is no better than those who continue to mention the 101 year drought
"I like coconuts, you can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun" Widespread Panic
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 8, 2009 1:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
There you go....mentioning the drought!
You just had to remind me AGAIN.
"Every team will win 60 games, every team will lose 60 games, it's what the team does in the other 42 games that decides the season."
by flachimesa on Mar 8, 2009 1:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol
"I like coconuts, you can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun" Widespread Panic
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 8, 2009 3:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hate to say this, but...
I don’t know that Micah can hit ML pitching consistently.
The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scrappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.
by DGU on Mar 8, 2009 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
only way to find out
is to hand him a bat and see
"I like coconuts, you can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun" Widespread Panic
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 8, 2009 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Right
Bat a 29 year old rookie in place of one of our proven major league hitters this season because there’s a really really small chance he may hit.
Again there is a reason he is a 29 year old rookie.
JIXAVERSARY! March 7, 2000 to March 7, 2009. My avatar refers to me participating in the writing challenge and making it~
by cubstoseriesby100 on Mar 8, 2009 3:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
i was not saying it would happen
was just saying there is only one way to find out
"I like coconuts, you can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun" Widespread Panic
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 8, 2009 3:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Felix Pie
would like a word.
"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella
by drewishdrewid on Mar 10, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Unfortunately, the only way really to find out
is to hand him a bat hundreds of times and I can’t imagine that happening without several other bad things happening first.
The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scrappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.
by DGU on Mar 8, 2009 3:07 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
The scary thing
Scary thing is if something happened to Lee where he was out for 2 weeks and Hoffpauir managed to hit anything we’d have people clamoring for him to still play everyday no matter how Lee was playing when he went down.
JIXAVERSARY! March 7, 2000 to March 7, 2009. My avatar refers to me participating in the writing challenge and making it~
by cubstoseriesby100 on Mar 8, 2009 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hoffpauir's fun to root for when he's in.
He’s got the same benefit as Theriot in that his name is great for bad punning. And in general it’s a kick to see guys who weren’t supposed to make it, do well. That doesn’t change the fact that there are a lot of guys besides Hoffpauir who would be better investments for the Cubs if they wanted to hand a guy a bat 200 times just to see what he could do.
The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scrappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.
by DGU on Mar 8, 2009 3:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hoff is an underdog
and underdogs are always fun to root for
"I like coconuts, you can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun" Widespread Panic
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 8, 2009 3:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
nobody does.
"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella
by drewishdrewid on Mar 10, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
no worse than Carlos Lee in LF I would think.
"I like coconuts, you can break them open and they smell like ladies lying in the sun" Widespread Panic
by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 8, 2009 12:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Carlos
I always say that if something happened where Carlos was no longer able to pitch (like Rick Ankiel) but could still play he could be a decent backup first baseman/left fielder.
JIXAVERSARY! March 7, 2000 to March 7, 2009. My avatar refers to me participating in the writing challenge and making it~
by cubstoseriesby100 on Mar 8, 2009 3:04 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Z...
is a good hitting pitcher. Key word there: pitcher.
Free Ronny Cedeno
by Kansas25 on Mar 8, 2009 6:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
He is actually just a good hitter
last years .382 wOBA would rank him in the top 15 among NL hitters.
vivaelbeñsheets
by vivaelpujols on Mar 8, 2009 7:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
No, he isn't
http://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zambrca01.shtml
Scroll down to his hitting stats. You will find that while he is a decent hitting pitcher, he is not particularly consistent from season to season. While he was great last year, most seasons he has not been very good when compared to position players. He had an OPS+ of 124 last year, but his career average is 59. A league average position player would be 100. He has had only one other season where he even came close to 100 and that was with a 93 in 2005.
Maybe if he wasn’t pitching and concentrated on hitting he could hit decently, but I don’t think he could hit well enough to ever be a regular position player. I don’t even recall him having much success as a pinch hitter last year. You’ve got to realize that last year was outlier for him and he’ll probably never repeat it.
by FrankSereno on Mar 8, 2009 8:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Correct.
Z is a .239/.246/.387 lifetime hitter in 494 career AB, with 19 doubles and 16 HR. That’s a fair amount of power, but little average and no plate discipline — 5 walks and 175 strikeouts.
While Z has probably talked Lou into using him as a PH, rather than Lou coming up with the idea on his own, this is a terrible idea. Z is 1-for-14 lifetime as a PH — a single —with 7 K’s and 1 GIDP.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
by Al on Mar 9, 2009 4:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I saw on ESPN's bottom line
They had him as the number 1 pitcher on the decline. I think that’s way off. So maybe it’s not a bad idea
"Check the magic of a winning season and there are always reasons beyond the talent." Ned Colleti
by wrigleyrocker12 on Mar 8, 2009 9:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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