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ZAMBRANO: THE HITTER’S FRIEND AFTER PITCH 90

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Having quite a little discussion going on in the comments section of the previous post. Thanks for all the participation–it’s a lot of fun.

One of the points I made is that from pitches 91-105 Zambrano treats hitters to a tasty OPS of 1.127. Maybe Lou and Larry considered that when they made the decision on Wednesday.

Valued reader DHaab said that “If you ask 100 baseball fans this question, I guarantee you at least 90 would take Zambrano without even hesitating.” I disagree with that. Here’s another question: Ask 100 hitters who they would rather face between Marmol and Zambrano. What do you think that answer would be?

My rolodex of MLB players is a bit short of 100. So I leave it to the beloved fans to answer it if you wish. Marmol has better stuff, better movement and throws harder. He’s likely the closer next year for the Cubs and for years to come. My guess is more would choose to face Zambrano than Marmol. A lot more.

Posted by admin on Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 5:33 pm 
Filed under Cubs, MLB Playoffs · Tagged with

  • dhaab

    You sure do take these debates seriously, don’t you? :)

    Look, all this comes down to is who is the BEST PITCHER on the Cubs. You happen to think a MIDDLE RELIEVER is your best pitcher and I happen to think it’s your ace. Hmmmm….

    This all comes down to how fickle of a fan you are, Zoner. Of course you think the younger player is the best because you haven’t seen him screw up enough yet for you to get down on him. Give Marmol another year and he’ll be in your dog house quickly. And BTW, I sure wish we were both GM’s and I could trade Marmol to you for Zambrano. That would be the heist of the decade!

  • http://zonersports.com The Zoner

    Don’t be stupid. I obviously wouldn;t trade Marmol for Zambrano. “Best Pitcher” can mean many things.

    I’m anything but fickle. Fickle is/are the Cardinal fans who pissed and moan for 2 months last year then had a big party when Detroit handed them the World Series. They didn’t believe in anything.

  • dhaab

    LOL. Now you’re back tracking. And what does any of this have to do with the Cardinals? You’d be wise to spend more time rooting for your own teams players instead of hating on other teams. Karma is a bitch.

    Hope you guys can win at least one game in this series. :)

  • http://completesports.blogspot.com twins15

    “If you ask 100 baseball fans this question, I guarantee you at least 90 would take Zambrano without even hesitating.”

    LOL. We all know casual baseball fans are the experts.

    Anyway, I agree with you Zoner. Heck, look at the numbers from this season:

    Zambrano – 3.95 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 7.36 K/9
    Marmol – 1.43 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 12.46 K/9

    Again, this doesn’t mean Marmol is more valuable than Zambrano… but I agree, if I had to choose between Zambrano who has already thrown 90 pitches (or however many he threw) and Carlos Marmol, I’d take Marmol for one inning.

  • dhaab

    Twins15, that wasn’t the way the discussion between me and Zoner went down. It’s funny how the blogger can skew the question to fit his argument the way he wants to, which is exactly what he did here.

    Marmol is GOD!!

  • http://zonersports.com The Zoner

    No, what’s funny is you have trouble sorting out your myriad arguments.

  • http://completesports.blogspot.com twins15

    I read the discussion… I still agree with Zoner. At that point in the game, I think Marmol is a better pitcher than Zambrano. Hindsight is 20/20, but it’s hard to argue with Marmol’s production throughout the year.

  • dhaab

    The argument wasn’t “would you take Marmol over Zambrano for one inning”. The argument was whether you leave your best pitcher (who was pitching lights out at the time) in the game after only 85 pitches in a tie game (to save him for later in the series) or do you put in your middle reliever who’s never thrown a playoff pitch in his life. And that’s fine if you disagree, but it’s obvious the move backfired BIG TIME. Not saying the Cubs would have won the game or series either way, but I think you always stay with your best pitcher that early in a big playoff game.

    Agree to disagree…yet again. :)

  • http://zonersports.com The Zoner

    How did it backfire when they did not score another run in that game? And again, you are assuming Zambrano is your best pitcher and totally disregarding the stat on Z after 90 pitches.

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