As Brian Bannister continued to battle the Brewers and himself today, en route to a rather hard-fought, exhausting win, I was struck by an odd, unwelcome thought: Why am I not giving him the Zambrano treatment?
This was B.B.'s line today: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 112 pitches, 63 for strikes.
This was V.Z. last week: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 87 pitches, 47 for strikes.
And yet when Bannister got in jam after self-created jam, I was urging him to bear down, to focus, that he had eight guys behind him, all that usual rah-rah shouted-at-the-TV stuff. When Victor's being Victor, the best I can muster is generally an exasperated, “Come on, Victor,” delivered in the tone usually reserved for dogs that you've decided just aren't ever going to be housebroken.
But is that fair?
Victor, of course, was traded for Scott Kazmir, who Met fans will always assume would have been the next Franchise if left to blossom in Queens. Does that play a role? Or is it something worse? For a time this afternoon, I wrestled with this thought: Is Bannister, with his big-league pedigree and cerebral interviews, getting a break from me that I won't give Zambrano — a Venezuelan whose native language isn't my own? Or is that just the years of liberal-arts brainwashing finally leaving some trace in my psyche?
I decided that I was innocent, that there really are a host of reasons to grade Bannister on a curve. First and most obviously, his stats reflect the grand total of three starts, while Zambrano is approaching his 100th career start. Bannister seems to have a plan out there, taking a page from Al Leiter in preferring to walk a guy and work on the next hitter than risk a ball up the gap. (Granted, the execution of that particular plan can be excruciating to watch, but it is a plan.) I don't get the impression that Zambrano ever has a plan beyond surviving the next pitch. Bannister has serviceable stuff around a good curve, but his biggest asset is having the guts of a burglar. Zambrano's stuff is much, much better: He throws harder and can contrast his fastball with a good change and that amazing slider. But he doesn't seem to have any idea how good he is — whenever he gets in trouble, he nibbles like an ancient junkballer, his mechanics go to hell, he leaves his defense flat-footed, and then you have to endure constant pats on the rump and visits from the pitching coach. After which he still exits early and tires out the bullpen.
I don't have any doubt Zambrano cares: Heck, as a new Met he cried in the clubhouse in Colorado after it became clear he was hurt and the Kazmir trade would look like a short-term disaster. But his body language isn't exactly heartening to see, while Bannister's keeps you believing. When Bannister's facing the bases loaded (even if it's his fault) the expression on his face is that of a bright young student facing a difficult but interesting math problem. Zambrano, on the other hand, looks like he has the wolf by the ears and doesn't know what the hell to do next. Is that the kind of semi-phrenology old scouts who don't believe in numbers trade in? Maybe. But it's sure hard to get past.
OK. I absolve myself of bias — beyond the bias of having had my hand pressed onto the hot Victor stove too many times. Bannister's young and seems determined to improve; Zambrano's not so young and can't seem to get out of his own way. Though the role of youth in all this should serve as a warning for Bannister: A younger Victor would have been cheered, too.
Biggest reason for me: Bannisters a rook, Zambrano is old hat…
Oh, and BTW:
Victor Zambrano & Steve Wright = separated at birth.
WRIGHT, dammit…
Willie Randolph handed Victor Zambrano the ball and told him to throw strikes. Zambrano walked the next three guys. Randolph came and out and said, “I thought I told you to throw strikes.” Zambrano told him, “I didn't know you meant to the batters.”
Suppose the Zambrano-Kazmir trade never occurred. Suppose Kazmir came up at some point last year and performed roughly like he did for the Devil Rays. The occasional amazing outling mixed in with the growing pains outing, including as much wildness as Zambrano has shown.
How many Mets fans would be counseling patience, this kid is special and how many would be booing every walk and insisting this kid's another first-round disappointment and that he's always teasing us but what the hell's the matter with him, send him back to Norfolk or trade him for a big bat and besides he's a disruptive clubhouse presence?
There'd be a lot. Doesn't mean he'd deserve it, but I doubt there'd be much patience for him because walks drive everybody crazy. If Bannister continues in that fashion and finally cracks, watch the jackals turn on him, too.
And yes, I do believe Victor Zambrano's shyness or lack of media savvy or whatever it is about him that doesn't translate well has obliterated any benefit of the doubt he might get.
Great post! I sure hope Bannister continues to do as well as he has. I picked him up for my fantasy league (along with Glavine)… Traeschal though I think has been getting the shaft. I mean, he's been there most consistent pitcher for the last four years, and he has only two starts to date? I mean c'mon. Thats grossly unfair. What is Willie's problem with Traeschal?
Take care,
Mark
http://www.americanlegends.blogspot.com
Here's a confession from a Mets fan: I watch the games religiously but very rarely any of the pre- post- or talk shows about the team, leastways not since the heyday of Kiner's Korner.
So I think I can fairly say that how Bannister or Zambrano may come across in interviews has no bearing on this fan's reaction — I've never seen or heard either of them interviewed.
Based just on watching them pitch, though, I think it's fair to think very differently about them. Most of the reasons are already in this thread, but it all really comes down to this: Zambrano's been Zambrano a long time, long enough to know that he's a serial offender on the anywhere-but-the-strike-zone front, and the batters know it too. When you see Victor start doing his vintage thing, it's easy for a batter to decide to err on the side of leaving the bat on the shoulder. Bannister is much more of a work in progress, and we haven't seen nearly enough of him to know yet whether the Zambranoish performance we saw on Sunday was aberrational or typical — and neither have the opposing hitters.
Oh, and one more thing: Bannister has pitched great and pitched scarily, but he hasn't lost yet.
Maybe in June or July we'll call the kid another Zambrano and wince as he spots every batter a 2-0 count. For now, though, innocent until proven Victor.
“Innocent until proven Victor,” ha. That's brilliant. I'd have made it the title of the post if I'd thought of it.
Trachsel, I think, suffers to some extent because no one in the current braintrust has anything invested in him — he's a holdover from the previous regime who missed most of last year while Willie was getting a sense of his club.
None of which is fair, but fair may not be part of the equation.