The return of Big Z

By Adam Cancryn

The Marlins are surging, and the man in the middle of it is as calm as ever.

Sometimes, you just need to make a change.

For the Miami Marlins, that change was as simple as flipping the calendar. After stumbling through an April filled with pratfalls both on and off the field, the team seemed to find its stride just as the month turned to May.

The Marlins began by reeling off seven straight wins, including a couple of extra-inning thrillers. Then, they took advantage of a soft spot in the schedule to climb above .500. On May 16, Miami extended that win-loss margin to three games for the first time this season. It might not have been as smooth a start as was promised during the Marlins' makeover, but the team finally appears within striking distance of its original expectations.

For the man at the center of this May resurgence, the necessary change was a bit bigger than waking up on the right side of a new month. That pitcher Carlos Zambrano is even a part of the Marlins' rotation, much less serving as its cornerstone, is the result of a series of setbacks, disappointments and last chances.

The burly right-hander arrived in Miami earlier this year in part because no one else would take him. He was a pariah throughout much of the baseball world, a man who had taken all of his blessings — a rubber arm, a powerful fastball and a raft of goodwill — and discarded them through a series of well-documented conflicts. Despite eight years of mostly stellar play for the Chicago Cubs, Zambrano's last few seasons there devolved into a string of poor outings, ejections and run-ins with just about everything that stood in his way. Umpires, coaches, water jugs and even catcher Michael Barrett found themselves on the receiving end of his rage-filled outbursts.

In August 2011, Chicago suspended him for throwing at Atlanta's Chipper Jones and subsequently getting ejected. He responded to the punishment with a tantrum that involved cleaning out his locker and declaring retirement. Somewhere along the way, Big Z had morphed into Big Me.

The exasperated Cubs shipped Zambrano to Miami for middling starter Chris Volstad and an agreement to pay some expensive postage: $16.5 million of Zambrano's $19 million contract.

It's not clear exactly when afterward that Zambrano turned the corner, or even why. He credits a reconnection with his faith and a strong relationship with manager Ozzie Guillen. Likely just as important is that Zambrano is locating his pitches much better than before and tying hitters up with a new repertoire. To date, he had struck out 2.29 batters for every one walk, a ratio that is his best since 2005. Part of that is due to the increasing reliance on a devastating splitter in favor of the less effective cut fastball he'd grown fond of in recent years. The bottom line, though, is that this is a different Carlos Zambrano. A seven-inning, seven-strikeout, one-earned-run performance on May 13 lowered his ERA to 1.88 and gave him his first win. That earned run was the only one he's allowed in three starts this month.

Best of all is that there have been no blowups, not even the first sign of a meltdown. Zambrano is missing more bats and having more success, which has put him in a better mood. Or, he's been in a better mood, which has allowed him to focus more on missing bats and being successful. No one knows what's driving what or whether it's all just one big circle, and the Marlins sure aren't asking.

There are still skeptics. It is early, after all, the dog days are yet to come, and Zambrano has spent the past few years cultivating an army of doubters. But maybe all it took was a change. During this blissful May, Big Me is nowhere to be found. And Big Z, well, he's throwing free and easy again.

Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96. Earlier parts of the season-long series on the Marlins can be found here.