Skip to main content

Solid Effort For Zambrano in Phils Minors Debut

By
Carlos Zambrano, photo- @BaseballBetsy
Carlos Zambrano continues to try to reestablish himself as an impact pitcher and made his first official minor league appearance for the Phillies on Tuesday.  In 4 1/3 innings, Zambrano threw 81 pitches while allowing no runs on three hits for the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers.  The former Cubs and Marlins pitcher also struck out two and walked two en route to a no decision.

Zambrano did not exhibit any of the traits that have made him one of Major League Baseball's most notorious characters (examples here and here).  In fact, according the Threshers catcher Logan Moore, who spoke exclusively with PhoulBallz.com following the team's 3-0 win over Brevard County on Tuesday, Zambrano was a pleasure to deal with.

"It was a real cool experience," Moore stated.  "He basically told me to call whatever (pitches) I wanted because I knew the hitters and he just threw what I called."

Moore, the Phillies' 9th round pick in 2011 out of Northeastern Junior College in Colorado, declared that pitching to Zambrano wasn't a great variance from his normal efforts as battery mate to young prospects, and added that the three-time big league All-Star put him at ease.

"I wouldn't say it's much different than a normal game catching a guy like that. He made me feel comfortable working with him, so it made it pretty easy on me. He was easy to be on the same page with and that's how it should be with our starters and him," Moore said.

Prior to his outing on Tuesday, Zambrano, who signed a minor league contact with the Phillies on May 15th, had appeared in two games with the club's extended spring training team.

In an effort to build stamina, the Phils are hoping to keep Zambrano on a starter's schedule, throwing every five days.  With the next turn coming on Sunday, the Phillies have plenty of options for their newest rotation hopeful's weekend.  The Threshers play in nearby Dunedin on Sunday, while the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, Double-A Reading Fightins and the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs all have home contests that day.

Zambrano's contract reportedly includes an out for the veteran, who could request his release from the organization if he isn't in the majors by July 1st.

The Venezuela native, who will celebrate his 32nd birthday on Saturday, has a career 132-91 record and 3.66 ERA in 12 big league seasons, although he has a 16-17 record with a 4.66 ERA over the past two seasons.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

By
Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

By
Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...
1 comment
Read more

2018 Phillies Prospect Countdown: #25 Second Baseman Jesmuel Valentin

By
Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Second baseman Jesmuel Valentin has become a solid contributor at each level he has played and could possess the ability to continue that success as he approaches the big leagues. Last year in spring training with the big league team Valentin proved he could contribute and earned consideration at making the Phillies opening day roster. His 2017 was cut short at the Triple-A level due to an injury in May, so he wasn't healthy for a call up during the season. But now, fully healthy and on the diamond in the Roberto Clemente League (the Puerto Rico Winter League), Valentin is hopeful he'll get another shot at his big league dream this year. Selected as the 51st overall draft pick in 2012, Valentin was quickly a well-hyped prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. Upon signing his initial professional contract fresh out of high school, the switch-hitter debuted in the rookie level Arizona League, posting a .211 average while...
Post a Comment
Read more