26 May 2011

Big Z for DH? Fine by me

In light of Carlos Zambrano's 3-for-3 performance from the plate today and this tweet from Julie DiCaro, I'm going to move that Big Z play DH when we hit interleague play again. There's 6 games in AL parks (3 against the White Sox, 3 against the Royals).

Zambrano has shown himself to be a viable hitting pitcher throughout his career, hitting .271/.278/.458 since 2008 and 22 career home runs. Taking more of a sabermetric approach, Zambrano's ISO (SLG% - BA, which measures a hitter's extra base power) is .190, highest among pitchers with 20 PA. This would have been around the 70th percentile in 2010. This should come as no surprise, as he comes to the plate with the intention of hitting a home run every time. But it's not all in haste, when you consider the company he keeps in this stat. Comparable to Zambrano's ISO in 2011: Joey Votto (.202), Jayson Werth (.198), Jason Heyward (.193), B.J. Upton (.188), and David Wright (.178).

So obviously we've established that Carlos can hold his own at the plate both as a contact and power hitter. He's a very volatile guy though. When he's good, he's SOOO good. And when he's bad, Gatorade machines get destroyed. But he WANTS to contribute. He WANTS to win. He's the kind of guy who if asked would play DH if asked. I'd think he'd jump at the chance.

What implications might this have on his spot in the rotation is anyone's guess. But at the very least I would want to see him in a pinch hitting role more than a few times this season. And THAT'S something you don't need to be in interleague play to do.

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