Carlos Zambrano will be back in the starting rotation for the Chicago Cubs and back on the baseball odds board at the sportsbook on Wednesday. The Cubs will be facing the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday and Zambrano will be favored in baseball odds at the online sportsbook.
Sportsbook odds routinely favored Zambrano when he was in the starting rotation but he was moved to the bullpen after some poor performances. He started the year in the rotation but he has been in the bullpen since April 24th. He has not pitched that well in the bullpen and the Cubs are putting their multi-million dollar pitcher back into a starting slot. The Cubs will be moving Tom Gorzelanny into the bullpen and they will also be calling up top draft pick Andrew Casher. He was 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA for Double-A Tennessee and Iowa.
The Cubs have been around the .500 mark this season vs. sportsbook odds and they really need Zambrano to lead their rotation. So far this season it has been Carlos Silva who has saved the staff. He is unbeaten at 7-0 this season. If he continues to pitch well and the Cubs get Zambrano straightened out, they could have a good rotation. Chicago has Ted Lilly Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells. On paper, it would seem that the Cubs would have a very solid rotation but Wells and Dempster have struggled at times and Zambrano has been awful vs. the sportsbook odds. If Zambrano can regain his form then Chicago would have a chance to remain competitive in the National League Central.
Wells was pitching for Chicago on Monday with Lilly going on Tuesday and Zambrano on Wednesday. Wells will be pitching on two days rest as he was shelled in Friday’s loss vs. the online sportsbook odds to the St. Louis Cardinals when he didn’t make it out of the first inning.
The Cubs are one of the most popular teams for gamblers to wager on at the sportsbook. Rarely does the team actually live up to expectations though. They haven’t even been that great at home where they are just above .500. Chicago has a below average lineup in terms of scoring runs and their pitching hasn’t been much better.