Zombie: A Tool or Five?
Is there anything Carlos Zambrano can't do on a baseball field [other than keep cool]? What is he, an ace or an ass?
Dave van Dyck speculates in this morning's Chicago Tribune that if Zombie [call him Big Z if you like; I call him Zombie - it will make a good stage name when he becomes a pro wrestler] misses his Friday start in Milwaukee one of three Iowa Cubs will take his place: Randy Wells, Mitch Atkins or Jose Ascanio.
Atkins' first two starts were poor and as a result he still carries a bloated and somewhat misleading ERA of 6.99. The last three have been better.
Wells has been solid from the outset in compiling an ERA of 3.13.
Both Atkins and Wells have K/BB ratios of 3:1 and are big, imposing righthanders.
Ascanio has made five starts and sports a sparkling ERA of 1.25 but only in his last outing did he go five innings. His pitch count that night was 81, the first time he's been that high as he transitions from relief to the rotation. Of the three candidates van Dyck names, Ascanio seems the least likely from here.
This morning's Des Moines Register says Wells will start the opener of the I-Cub homestand tonight versus Nashville. The team's website tabs Atkins. A complicating factor might also be that the team's last two games over the weekend in Memphis were rained out.
Atkins' last appearance was on April 30, Wells' was April 27 and Ascanio was May 1.
There's always Samardzija...MW
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