Um, what? In all the hemming and hawing about whether or not Carlos Marmol would be pitching for the D.R. in the WBC (he’s not), we may have missed an even scarier story.
Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs will stand in for Santana on the mound while sluggers Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers will lead Venezuela’s offense, according to the line-up released on Monday by Edwin Zerpa, president of the Venezuelan Baseball Federation.
We knew Ted Lilly, Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome would be participating, but Zambrano? Every other source on the subject has said Zambrano is not playing in the WBC. So what’s up?
More after the jump.
At first, I assumed this had to be simply outdated, given all the recent reports that Zambrano, among others, would not be participating.
But the article is from SI today, and says that the rosters were just released today. And there’s this quote:
Zambrano was not originally expected to join the line-up, but the Cubs decided to clear him.
“Many of the big players are missing, but those that are there — besides being great players — are ready to give their best for the team,” Zerpa told The Associated Press.
So I’m not really sure whether he’s playing or not, but if those quotes are to be credited, he is. I guess the Cubs must feel very good about Zambrano’s shoulder.I remain skeptical, though, of this report.
Count me among those who wish all of the Cubs’ Carlos’s would skip the WBC.