My Man Carlos
Big Z has taken a lot of flack this season, flack being the kindest word for the endless supply of criticism for the longest-tenured player on the Cubs roster. And criticism is fine…we obviously couldn’t put out new episodes of Cubscast every few days unless Sheps and I are both willing to speak our minds about the state of the team and the performances of players, etc. However, if I didn’t have a passion to see the Cubs improve this season and in the future, then the criticism would be false.
Enter WGNRadio 720′s Dave Kaplan.
Over a week ago Kaplan wrote an incidiary blog post titled Carlos Zambrano May Be the Most Overpaid Player in the Game. If you share his opinion, that’s fine, but I certainly don’t, and many other Cubs fans do not. I get that Big Z could improve as a player and person, but who in the major leagues can’t?
The fan response was such that Kaplan wrote a follow-up post titled Wow, the Zambrano Defenders are Up In Arms!. Um, yeah?
I’m thankful that the backlash happened, but I’ve got to wonder if Kaplan fully expected it and was only looking to stir the pot, so to speak. Something about his argument just seems made up, like he’s decided to argue one side of the coin just to argue it. A commenter on his blog puts things in perspective with a list of players that have similar win totals since 2003 that includes Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt, Roy Halladay, Andy Pettitte, C.C. Sabathia, Josh Beckett and Brandon Webb. Argument won, right? Wrong. Kaplan goes on to explain that Santana hasn’t ever had emotional issues, Oswalt (who is a hothead, by the way) is perceived as a clubhouse leader, and Beckett and Pettite have multiple World Series rings.
The point I want to make is this.
Why do we feel the need to fit Carlos into that tired jelly mold of “clubhouse leader?” Matt Stairs is probably a better clubhouse guy, and that’s fine. I’ve made my peace with that. Carlos prefers to joke around in the clubhouse and keeps things loose, which overall is probably more important than having a guy that got elected in everyone’s minds to tell Carlos Marmol to start throwing strikes.
What world do you live in where Zambrano makes this Cubs rotation less fierce? Game 2 of the Dodgers playoff series was nearly a year ago, and if you use that as your example that Carlos isn’t big game enough, rewatch the errors committed by the defense behind him. No pitcher gets a win every time he takes the mound, but every Cubs fan knows that a game Big Z starts is a game we have a pretty great chance of winning.
Why do we care so much that Carlos loves to hit, and hit for power? Did anyone hate on Fergie Jenkins for taking the ball out of the park when he was in uniform? It’s only been acknowledged by the team that Carlos’ swings in BP might have contributed to injury, so enough with the innuendo, too. I’ve personally seen enough botched bunts the last 5 seasons to appreciate a pitcher that makes solid contact. Also, can I predict the future blog post that asks the question if Zambrano should get time in the outfield or first base?
Let him be his own man and his own player and I’m guessing that in another 5 years Big Z will top that list of great pitchers. Carlos deserves his salary, and in my opinion has earned it over his career and will continue doing just that.
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2 Responses
Adam August 17th at 6:27 pm
Anybody who has ever hurt their back knows, anything (or nothing) can cause it. Better conditioned athletes than Carlos have hurt their backs sneezing. On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve hurt my back sleeping. Backs are tricky.
And the thing about the emotional meltdown argument is, nobody keeps stats of Carlos’s performance when feeling especially emotional volatile. There are times when it seems his emotions cause him to pitch poorly, especially after something bad happens. Allow me to produce the counterargument:
Every pitcher who has ever taken a no-hitter late into a game.
We’ve seen it countless times, most recently in the Phillies series. That time it was Rich Harden, perfect game carried into the 6th inning. All of a sudden he walks a guy. One sacrifice bunt later, he’s giving up a homer to Jimmy Rollins. Emotional letdown, right? Lost his nerve? That happens a lot to pitchers who give up no-no’s in the later innings.
By the Kap-man’s rationale, if you can call it that, pitchers shouldn’t try to throw no-hitters, because they are subject to emotional meltdowns and loss of focus. You could also argue that pitchers who throw 1/2 of a perfect game are the most overpaid pitchers in the game–very unstable.
If you made that argument you would, of course be an idiot, but you might find solace in your new contract as a sports talk radio host. Congrats, Dave. Congrats.
Jen August 17th at 6:42 pm
Nice! I was hoping you guys would bring this up. I dunno, I’m not happy that he only has a handful of wins this season either. BIG Z is going to start the playoffs though if we get in, so wanting to get rid of him makes less sense than Dave Kap does.