Surprise, surprise

I'll admit I was surprised to see Carlos Zambrano moved into a setup role, which he is expected to take on Saturday. Obviously given the size of his contract this is a temporary move, but I did dump him from my fantasy league.

Big Z has traditionally been a slow starter. While the Cubs keep starting him on opening day, his record in those starts is less than exceptional. He's been beaten up so far in 2010, but hasn't exactly given up rocket shots off the walls or into the seats, rather a lot of Texas-league loopers that added up to disaster.

To brag a bit, so far my preseason projections are looking good. Carlos Silva has made the Bradley trade look like a stroke of genius (though even if he had Tommy John surgery it would still be a good trade), and Tom Gorzelanny and for the most part Sean Marshall have both pitched well. Geovany Soto has been on a tear after a slow start, the three outfield starters are collectively hitting over .300, Mike Fontenot has improved on his 2009 production so far, and there have been questions about middle relief, particularly with a couple of the unproven younger guys. Aramis Ramirez is off to an awful start, and while that long-term injury fortunately hasn't happened, it does appear that the Cubs can't win without him contributing. Oh, and Carlos Marmol has an earned run average of 1.17.

So let's hope the Cubs can put their New York trip behind them, and that the Brewers are burned out after outscoring the Pirates 36-1 in a three-game sweep and handing them their worst loss in their 129 seasons in a 20-0 rout.