caption finalyear bats birth_place debutyear finaldate statvalue image_size position finalteam statlabel debutdate birth_date image article_title debutteam name throws
zambrano with the chicago cubs 2012 switch puerto cabello , venezuela 2001 september 21 132 -- 91 3.66 1,637 240px pitcher miami marlins win -- loss record earned run average strikeouts august 20 1 june 1981 carlos zambrano - 2008 - cropped.jpg carlos zambrano
 chicago cubs carlos zambrano right
carlos zambrano

carlos alberto zambrano -lrb- born june 1 , 1981 -rrb- , nicknamed `` big z '' or `` el toro '' , is a former venezuelan professional baseball pitcher .
he played in major league baseball -lrb- mlb -rrb- from 2001 to 2012 for the chicago cubs and miami marlins .
zambrano , who stands and weighs , was signed by the cubs as a free agent in 1997 and made his debut in 2001 .
after being used in both starting and relief duties , he enjoyed his first full season as a starter in 2003 , finishing with a 13 -- 11 record , 168 strikeouts and a 3.11 era .
the controversial pitcher is known as one of the best hitting pitchers of recent times .
he was a switch-hitter with a career .238 batting average with 24 home runs , 71 rbis and a slugging percentage of .396 .
the 23 home runs are the most ever by a cubs pitcher .
he also tied with ferguson jenkins for the club record for home runs by a pitcher in a single season , hitting six in 2006 .
zambrano was called on to pinch hit 20 times in his career and won a silver slugger award three times for his hitting .
zambrano was the only national league pitcher to win at least 13 games in each year from 2003 to 2008 .
in 2006 , he became the first player from venezuela to lead the national league in wins .
