Victor Zambrano versus the Strike Zone

Now I am probably the least Catholic Italian on the face of the planet, but I am still a big believer in two things-

1. There is no way the Pope should ever be German, and

2. Penance is good for the soul.

That is why I am starting a petition to get the Mets to start Victor Zambrano every Sabbath, so I can do my penance for the week by watching him pitch. I thought with the exile of Al Leiter to Florida, I would no longer be actually dreading watching a starting pitching performance by a Mets Pitcher. Unfortunately, Zambrano continues to carve out his future place as a footnote along side Larry Andersen and Ernie Broglio. So that brings me to my quandary for this post. With Mr. Anna Benson set to return to the rotation, you have a glut of starting pitchers. Specifically, three starters for two rotation spots.

(I am going to try to format this properly, join me, won't you?)

Aaron Heilman

IP H R HR BB SO K/9 WHIP BAA ERA

25.0 22 13 3 5 18 6.48 1.08 .234 4.68

Jae Weong Seo

IP H R HR BB SO K/9 WHIP BAA ERA

11.0 9 4 3 1 6 4.91 0.91 .214 3.27

Shitty Zambrano

IP H R HR BB SO K/9 WHIP BAA ERA

26.1 35 20 3 17 23 7.86 1.97 .324 5.81

Now the only conceivable scenarios I can come up with for anyone thinking that Zambrano should stay in the rotation are as follows:

(A) You are Rick Peterson

(B) You love that K/9 rate, or

(C) You have Jose Guillen on your fantasy team, and you get points for OBP.

I tend to be a youth movement guy myself, and in fairness, when I heard about the Kazmir trade my first thought was, "Well, I like Kazmir a lot, but I think Carlos Zambrano will be a big time pitcher, so take the known quantity."

After that, things get a little hazy. Perhaps a threatening letter was written to Jim Duquette, it is still unclear.

So perhaps I am biased against Zambrano. I do know that he has looked absolutely awful in his starts, and only got his win via the Mets setting their franchise single game home run record.

Now I'm not saying Heilman or Seo are the answers for the backend of the rotation, but they have looked like solid #4 or #5 type guys. Certainly once Kaz Ishii is healthy they will be sent back down to Norfolk. But if they keep pitching well, you can at least showcase them to increase their trade value. Then, maybe parlay them for some bullpen help or the services of a hypnotist capable of hypnotizing Jose Reyes into take a walk. More value there than a good eighth inning guy anyway.

As for Zambrano, perhaps it is time for a DL stint for some "arm trouble." Self-flagellation is more pleasant a penance anyway.