Pitchers and catchers have already reported for spring training throughout Major League Baseball, and for the Chicago Cubs that means showing up in Mesa, Arizona. The workload is generally pretty light the first week of practice because players are easing back into shape. For Carlos Zambrano, he’s apparently even taking the opportunity to get some slow pitch softball in on the side.
A reader of SI Hot Clicks emailed in with that picture and an accompanying story that Big Z played in his softball game Thursday night. According to the Hot Clicks reader, “He played left field every other inning and made sure to use his opposite throwing arm so he wouldn’t screw anything up. He popped up twice and hit one out of the stadium another time. Super friendly guy. He even offered to sign autographs for everyone after the game. Dude looks in shape, at least 20-30 lbs lighter.”
Though the person totally burned Big Z by emailing in the story and publicizing the appearance, I think it’s positive P.R. for Zambrano. He’s been known as a hothead with an attitude problem, so it’s nice to have stories saying he’s friendly and in good shape. Plus, who can’t get down with an athlete helping out some bros in a beer league game? He was no Eric Byrnes, but this event certainly was a win for Carlos.
