Víctor Manuel Zambrano (born August 6, 1975) is a Venezuelan former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played all or parts of seven seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 2001-07.

Professional career

Zambrano had a good repertoire and an aggressive pitching approach, using his 92-95 MPH sinking

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

, a

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

, and occasionally a quality

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. He was a converted

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

who fielded his position well and did a decent job holding on runners. However, his effectiveness was hampered by a lack of control.

Minor leagues

Zambrano was originally signed as a free agent by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in 1993. He started his professional career in 1994 with the

GCL Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball ...

, but was released by the team prior to the 1996 season. He was signed by the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

, then spent the next several seasons working his way up through their

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

organization before making his major league debut in 2001.

Major league career (2001–07)

In 2003, he led the

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in walks,

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third stri ...

es, and

hit batsmen In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

, and in walks again in 2004, despite being traded to the

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at midseason. The

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

acquired him, along with reliever

Bartolomé Fortunato Bartolomé Araujo Fortunato (born August 24, 1974) is a former baseball pitcher. Fortunato was originally an outfielder, but was converted to pitching when signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in . He made his Major League debut on ...

, in a highly criticized deal for top-ranked pitching prospect

Scott Kazmir Scott Edward Kazmir (; born January 24, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics ...

and minor league pitcher

Joselo Diaz José Manuel Díaz Márquez (September 27, 1936 – January 5, 2013) was a Venezuelan actor and comedian in television and film. Born in Barbacoas, Aragua, he was the younger brother of the singer and composer Simón Díaz. He played profession ...

. On May 6, 2006, Zambrano suffered a torn flexor

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

in his pitching elbow, disabling him for the rest of the 2006 season. Doctors unexpectedly found a torn elbow

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

during surgery on May 15, resulting in the second

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Ch ...

elbow surgery of his career. Zambrano was expected to be sidelined well into the 2007 season, and he was non-tendered by the Mets, and became a free agent in December 2006. On January 30, 2007, Zambrano signed a minor league contract, with an invitation to Major League

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. He appeared in only eight games (two of them starts), before he was released on July 9. After signing a minor league contract with the

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, his contract was purchased by the

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on September 9, 2007. For the rest of the 2007 season, he appeared in 5 games for the Orioles, made 2 starts, and was 0-1 with a 9.49 ERA. Following the 2007 season, he was released by the Orioles on October 1.

Back to the minor leagues

On February 5, 2008, he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Colorado Rockies. On June 7, 2008, the Rockies released him. He signed with the

on July 31, 2008 and became a free agent at the end of the season.

Taiwan

Zambrano began the 2009 season in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

with the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey ( en, Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monterrey, Mexico. They compete in the Northern Division. The team also joined the Mexican Pacific League for the 2019–20 season f ...

. After appearing in 16 games with the Sultanes, he signed

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of Taiwan's

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

in August. He made his debut on September 1, pitching six innings with two earned runs. He lost to the Uni Lions'

Nerio Rodríguez Nerio Rodríguez Delgado (born March 4, 1971) is a former Dominican Republic, Dominican baseball player. A pitcher, Rodríguez played Major League Baseball from to for the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. In , he played for the St. Lou ...

9 to 5.

Mexican League

After the 2009 season ended and no team had picked Zambrano up, he decided to retire from baseball. He briefly attempted a comeback in the

in 2010 with the

Dorados de Chihuahua Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a refounded baseball team from the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Recently, the Tuneros de San Luis moved to Chihuahua and took the Dorados namesake, which also brought the LMB (AAA ...

, but was let go after appearing in eight games with an ERA of 7.02. He has not pitched professionally since.

Personal life

Victor has often mistakenly been thought to be related to former

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

pitcher

Carlos Zambrano Carlos Alberto Zambrano Matos (born June 1, 1981), nicknamed "Big Z" or "El Toro", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2001 to 2012 for the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins. Zambrano ...

. Both Carlos and Víctor Zambrano are Venezuelan. Although they lived just an hour away from each other as children, they never knew each other. In October 2009, his mother was kidnapped. She was rescued three days later by members of the Venezuelan national police. Three suspects were arrested. A fourth is still at large.