Solid Effort For Zambrano in Phils Minors Debut

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.

Comments

Patreon Exclusive: Logan O'Hoppe answers Nine Silly-ass Questions

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Logan O'Hoppe was the subject of a recent player feature I posted here three days early. When I talked with Logan, he was kind enough to not only chat about some serious baseball related topics, he also had some fun with me and answered Nine Silly-Ass Questions! In this interview, the 20-year-old, who was an All-Star with Class A short-season Williamsport last year, offered his thoughts on his experiences playing in Australia last off-season, super powers, some surprising movies he's never seen, teammate Albertus Barber and plenty more. Read ahead for some excerpts from this Silly-ass interview... -You can 4-for-4 and your team loses, or you can get hit in the groin and your team wins...which do you choose? I mean, if we win, then the whole team has a good night, so I have to go with that one. That really benefits everybody. -Tell me, if you can, four words to describe Albertus Barber . One,...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Calling All (Sal's) Pals...

Phillies phans should remember Sal Fasano fondly. In 2006, Fasano was the Phillies' back up catcher who hit .243 and slugged 4 homers in 50 games played. Sal's unique mustache and tough guy vibe won over the Philadelphia crowds and a fan group called Sal's Pals was born. Prior to playing with the Phillies, Fasano debuted with the Royals, and made stops in Oakland, Colorado, Anahiem and Baltimore. Fasano was a true journeyman who had no qualms about his reserve role where ever he went. Today, Twitter user and Phillies phan Sara Scott passed along an article that I feel deserves mention here. SI.com's Jeff Pearlman detailed the Fasano family's struggles with health coverage for their 2 year old child, Santo, who suffers from a serious heart condition. The article can be found here . Santo's condition, hypoplastic heart syndrome, requires medical attention to help his underdeveloped heart to mature properly. To this point, Santo's surgeries have cost over $1 mi...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog