Zambrano Out of 8th Inning, Could be Headed to Rotation

Carlos Zambrano's role is changing again.  This time the big right-hander will be moving from the 8th inning setup role to long relief.  Yup, long relief.

The plan for Tuesday's game is to get Z multiple innings of work, about 35-45 pitches, and try to stretch his arm back out.  While the move obviously engenders speculation as to whether Zambrano will be moved back into the rotation, Lou Piniella was non-committal about that taking place any time soon.

When asked if Zambrano would be moving to the rotation, Piniella responded, "I didn't say rotation.  I said we're going to change his role in the bullpen."  After answering more questions about Zambrano moving into long relief, Lou was asked if the next step could be Zambrano returning to starting.  "The next step?" Piniella said, "Probably down the road, yes."

For his part, Zambrano said all the right things after the game--as he has throughout this experiment.  He's willing to accept any role the team has for him and, while he himself isn't sure if he's actually headed back to the rotation, he seemed excited about the possibility.

As for the game, it was a comeback thriller.  The Cubs blew the lead in the eighth when John Grabow (now one of two left-handed Cubs set-up men as Zambrano is no longer an option) allowed a hit and two walks to load the bases.  Carlos Marmol was then called on to get the Cubs out of the jam but he ended up walking in the tying run.  Marmol followed that by striking out the side in the ninth while Sean Marshall did a spectacular job keeping the extra frames clean.

While Aramis Ramirez was the hero Monday night with his walk off two-run homer, Zambrano was the story.  On a day where, coming into the game all the talk was about Lou Piniella keeping his job, it will be very interesting to see just how this change is handled for the next few weeks.