Job in focus
<a href=www.dailyherald.com>Carlos Zambrano By Bruce Miles Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted March 25, 2003
MESA, Ariz. - At 6-feet-5 and 245 pounds, Carlos Zambrano is a bear of a young man.
He's a hungry bear, too. So don't tell him that spring training is meaningless.
Zambrano felt the full meaning of spring training last year when he was sent to Class AAA Iowa just as the Cubs were breaking camp.
Even Zambrano had to admit the demotion was well earned. He had a horrific spring, going 0-1 with a 14.18 ERA, having given up 23 hits and 21 earned runs in 13º innings pitched.
"It was my fault; I understand that," said the 21-year-old right-hander. "I didn't pitch well. They see all the pitchers, and if they see somebody is not ready for the big leagues, they have the last choice."
This year, Zambrano is part of the Cubs' starting rotation, but he's not counting on a thing. It shows in his pitching, too.
Entering tonight's start against the San Diego Padres, Zambrano is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA, pretty respectable numbers in the hitter-happy Cactus League. The strikeouts (12) are going up, and the walks (7) are coming down.
"I'm just a little more experienced," said Zambrano, a native of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. "I just came in my mind that I have to make the team and that I don't have anything for sure. That's why I'm working so hard, to make the team."
As is the case with so many young players on the Cubs, a dose of perspective comes in handy when talking about Zambrano.
The Cubs signed him as a nondrafted free agent in 1997, right after his 16th birthday. When he made his major-league debut in August 2001, he became the first player born during the 1980s to appear in a game for the Cubs.
On Opening Day, he will be the youngest player to start the season with the Cubs since Greg Maddux (20) in 1987.
Like all major-leaguers, Zambrano remembers his debut well. How he uses the memory says a lot about how far he has come.
"I'm not afraid," he said. "The last time I was afraid in the big leagues was when I first came up. When I came off the bench, I saw 40,000 people. That was amazing. Anybody can be scared. People who told me they weren't scared when they came up to the big leagues, I don't believe that.
"Always with your first something, you're scared. But you have to be in control. You have to think, 'That's your game,' and you're there.
"That was one game. It was the beginning of my career. Just throw the ball and enjoy the game. That's what I was thinking when I was in the bullpen warming up that day."
Zambrano had a rough go of it that day, losing 10-2 to the Brewers after not allowing a hit until the fourth inning. He worked in relief the rest of his time in Chicago that year and thought he might have a job last spring.
It didn't work that way, and that bitter memory has fueled his desire this year, making him one of the Cubs' more pleasant surprises of the spring.
"He's looked good most of the days," manager Dusty Baker said. "I like his attitude, the way he works and the fact that he wants it. There's something to that. He wants it badly."
That work ethic has been noticed by pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who is seeing Zambrano for the second year.
"I think he's more confident in what he's doing," Rothschild said. "He's a year down the road, too, so he's matured as a pitcher. His delivery has been pretty consistent. He works. He works in between (starts). He works at everything."
Zambrano worked his way back to the Cubs by mid-April last year. After a stint on the disabled list, he ended up in the rotation, gaining his first victory as a starter July 6 against the Braves' Tom Glavine for the first of two straight victories over Atlanta.
Overall, he went 4-8 with a 3.66 ERA, but he threw the ball well enough in the second half of the season to get himself penciled into the rotation.
Working with new catchers Damian Miller and Paul Bako this spring, Zambrano has seen his confidence grow - but not to the point of cockiness.
"One thing about this spring training, when I want to throw something, Miller calls the same pitch," Zambrano said. "That's being on the same page. It makes me feel good because it makes me feel that I'm smart, because those catchers are smart.
"I like the competition. I like to be in the position of having to fight somebody for a job. It's makes me feel like I can do it. It pushes me to be better than anybody else."