While Zambrano was always recognized as an elite hitting pitcher during his career, it’s easy to see how that skill would be further utilized in today’s MLB.
It already feels so foreign and far-removed from the big leagues, but it was just four seasons ago that pitchers were still hitting in National League games, the final year of a long-standing separation between the two leagues that began when the American League adopted the designated hitter in 1973.
During the nearly five decades of the DH being exclusive to the AL, the NL developed a reputation as the more traditional league, with a higher emphasis placed on strategy and having a plan for making late-game pitching changes and defensive replacements.
Almost universally bad at hitting, pitchers were seen as an automatic out with the bases empty while simply serving as a sacrifice bunt opportunity to turn the lineup order with men on. Though this generalization was not universal – several hitters over the years were adept at hitting, with the league rewarding this skill via the Silver Slugger award from 1980 to 2021.
Essentially all of the best hitting pitchers of this era were winners of the award at some point, and there’s plenty that were known as formidable hitters at the plate – Mike Hampton, Madison Bumgarner, Zack Greinke and Liván Hernández being among the bunch.
However, one other pitcher with incredible hitting skills always stood out to me for reasons beyond my Cubs fandom, with today’s game being even more fitting for his abilities – Carlos Zambrano.
From my childhood through just about the end of the AL’s exclusivity of the DH, the Cubs had a plethora of solid hitting pitchers. Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Travis Wood, Jake Arrieta and Jason Marquis are among some of the North Side hurlers that have held their own with the bat over the years, but it always felt just a bit different with Big Z.
A switch hitter with a monstrous frame and plate coverage alongside very capable power, Zambrano was always treated as more than just another pitcher at the plate – with that treatment extending to the Cubs themselves as well.
Zambrano’s utility as a hitter was not ignored, with the pitcher being called upon to pinch hit on 30 occasions throughout his big league career, going 3-for-29 with a sacrifice.
Though Zambrano didn’t quite live up to his reputation when he did pinch hit, his numbers when hitting as a pitcher are a different story. The star righty posted a career slash line of .244/.254/.401/.654 when hitting as a pitcher, accounting for 162 of his 165 career hits.
Playing for the Cubs from 2001 to 2011 before spending one season with the Miami Marlins in 2012, Zambrano hit 24 home runs and 26 doubles throughout his MLB career, driving in 71 runs.
Although always seen as a relative threat at the plate, each individual season provided a mixed bag of results for Zambrano at the plate. This can best be exemplified in the first two of Zambrano’s three Silver Slugger seasons – 2006 and 2008.
In 2006, Zambrano posted the second-worst batting average of his career, going 11-for-73 to amount to just a .151 batting average, though Big Z made it count when he was able to connect. Six of his 11 hits that season left the ballpark, contributing to 11 RBI on the season while making Zambrano appear as an all-or-nothing power threat.
The full offensive arsenal was put on display in 2008, a year in which Zambrano was remarkably worth 1.2 Wins Above Replacement as a hitter. The switch-hitting pitcher connected for 28 hits throughout the season, with nine of those going for extra bases.
In addition to four home runs and 14 RBI, Zambrano slashed .337/.337/.554/.892, good enough for a 123 OPS+ that supplemented a 4.2 WAR season as a pitcher.
Though Zambrano’s batting average was rather unpredictable from year-to-year, he did post an average of .300 or better on two other occasions, while also hitting under .200 in 2002 and 2012 in addition to 2006.
This makes it hard to guess what Zambrano’s batting average would look like after a full season of plate appearances, though his career offensive output makes two things certain – he had unmistakable raw power and was more gifted at the plate than even his Silver Slugger-winning contemporaries.
Despite pitchers being away from the plate for nearly four full seasons now, widespread talk and acknowledgement of hitting pitchers is at its highest level yet, thanks to none other than the unicorn, Shohei Ohtani.
A two-way phenom that has already secured his status as one of the game’s greatest players of all-time, arguably even the greatest, there is simply no comparison or parallel to what Ohtani has accomplished at the big league level.
But even if it hasn’t already, it should lead to a dramatic reevaluation of the merits behind players specializing in positions at a young age, especially for those that can excel at both hitting and pitching while progressing through youth levels.
There won’t ever be another Shohei Ohtani – but there will be another hitting pitcher, and Ohtani’s incredible run raises the question of what a career like Zambrano’s could have looked like had his hitting been utilized a bit more.
I don’t think Zambrano could have succeeded, at least right away, as an everyday hitter while holding a spot in the rotation in the manner that Ohtani does. However, in a game with a universal DH and a higher-than-ever emphasis on home runs over batting average, it’s fair to think that Zambrano would have been in for more than just 30 pinch-hit plate appearances.
While Big Z’s offensive numbers from the mound speak for themselves, it’s sometimes easy to forget what was perhaps his greatest asset as a hitter – he could hit from both sides of the plate.
Though Zambrano was noticeably stronger overall as a right-handed hitter with 19 extra-base hits and a .718 OPS against southpaws, he still slashed .226/.234/.361/.595 with 15 of his 24 home runs from the left side of the plate.
Zambrano’s one constant weakness that would need to be improved in today’s game would be his lack of plate patience, though his free-swinging nature may have also been due to his position in the lineup and status as a pitcher, who were often simply told to just hack at fastballs.
Zambrano posted just 10 walks in 744 plate appearances, an insanely miniscule rate that does offset some of the power contributed – although one would have to think a hypothetical modern-day player with Big Z’s skillset would be able to adapt their approach at least a little to nudge that walk rate in the right direction.
In a game where so much emphasis is placed on capitalizing on the few mistakes incredibly effective pitchers make, Zambrano’s raw power from both sides of the plate and proven track record as a hitter make a strong argument for having a greater role offensively today than he did during his playing career.
Though this may not exactly look like Shohei Ohtani’s schedule, a player like Zambrano could simply be used as an extra bench bat – available to pinch-hit on off days while making the occasional spot start at DH, in addition to taking his own at-bats during his starts.
It’s hard to say when or if another player like Zambrano will emerge to even force this into a conversation, but Ohtani’s incredible career is undoubtedly inspiring young players across the globe to believe that both hitting and pitching at the highest level is possible. It’s only natural to believe a gifted athlete will force the issue once again in the not-too-distant future.
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