Carlos Zambrano Can Hit… But Does a Hitting Pitcher Help His Team?

Carlos Zambrano recently received his third Silver Slugger award, and second straight, as the best hitting pitcher in the National League. Zambrano actually dropped off considerably in his offensive production in 2009, seeing his OPS drop from .892 to .689.

But that .689 is nearly double the league average pitcher; National League hurlers compiled a miserable .355 OPS in 2009.

Given that Zambrano represents such a remarkable upgrade from a normal pitcher, perhaps he can make a serious impact, even in such obviously limited offensive playing time (he accrued only 72 PA in 2009, and his career high is just 86). 

Let's test the data. Zambrano had an OPS 94 percent above league average for pitchers. No other National Le...

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