Carlos Zambrano Chicago Cubs Publications

Carlos Zambrano-Chicago Cub's pitcher-Sporting News magazine, July 14, 2008 issue-Baseball At The Half.

Carlos Zambrano, popularly known as "Big Z" or "El Toro," is a right-handed starting pitcher who has played for the Chicago Cubs since 2001. He is signed with the Cubs through the 2012 season. He is one of the few switch-hitting pitchers in the MLB and has won a Silver Slugger Award for his hitting. Zambrano, an imposing figure at 6' 5" and 255 pounds, was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 1997 and made his debut in 2001. After being used in both starting and relief duties, he enjoyed his first full season as a starter in 2003, finishing with a 13-11 record, 168 strikeouts and a 3.11 ERA. He was also in the Cubs starting rotation during the Cubs' run to the National League playoffs, in which they would come up five outs shy of the World Series, losing to the eventual world champion Florida Marlins. Widely regarded as one of the best hitting pitchers in the game, he has a career .240 batting average with 16 home runs, 46 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .386. The 16 home runs is the most ever by a Cubs pitcher in history. He also tied the club record for home runs by a pitcher in a single season after clubbing six round trippers in 2006. Ferguson Jenkins is the other Cub great who compiled six home runs in one season as a pitcher. Due to his impressive stats at the plate he is occasionally even called upon to pinch hit. His main pitch is a hard, moving two-seam fastball that clocks at around 90-94 mph and a four-seam fastball that can reach 99 mph, but usually settles around 96 or 97 mph.