Zambrano will pitch from bullpen when he returns

The Cubs suspended Carlos Zambrano indefinitely on Friday after he blew up in the dugout, getting in the face of first baseman Derrek Lee and turning over a water cooler. Now the punishment continues.

According to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, Zambrano will not return to the Cubs’ starting rotation once he is activated from his club-assigned suspension. He will head back to the bullpen, where he spent part of April and all of May.

Big Z has posted a 4.15 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP this season in 14.1 innings as a reliever and a 3-5 record, a 6.12 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP as a starter. To be blunt, he’s pretty awful these days no matter the role.

The Cubs have not made immediate plans to fill his rotation spot, nor have they called up a player to take Zambrano’s place on the 25-man roster. Some changes will need to be made by early next week.

Terrible news for Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker: the MRI he had on his knee revealed a torn ACL. He’ll need surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

Shoemaker was in the process of holding the A’s scoreless through three innings of three-hit, one-strikeout ball in his start on Saturday. He twisted his leg awkwardly when he ran over and tagged Matt Chapman between first and second base, however, and it was immediately clear that things weren’t right. He was initially diagnosed with a sprain, but the MRI showed that it was worse.

This is a tough break for Shoemaker, who had started off the season pretty fantastically, posting a 1.57 ERA over his first five starts this year.

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