After rebuffing an interview attempt from the Nationals, the Cubs have promoted Tyler Zombro to vice president of pitching, reports Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. After just one year in the front office, Zombro will now take on an expanded role in scouting, coaching, and player development.
Zombro joined the organization last season as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. He’d previously worked with Tread Athletics, a well-regarded training facility. Washington was chasing Zombro to be the club’s major league pitching coach, per Sharma. Instead of granting him permission to interview with the Nats, he was handed an expanded gig in Chicago.
Zombro spent six seasons as a minor league reliever, almost exclusively with Tampa Bay. His career was nearly cut short by a terrifying injury in 2021, when the righty was hit in the head by a line drive. The 104 mph batted ball fractured his skull and caused him to have a seizure on the mound. Zombro underwent brain surgery in July 2021. Incredibly, he briefly returned in 2022, but needed thoracic outlet syndrome surgery after two appearances. He latched on with the Rangers in 2023, pitching in a pair of games at Triple-A.
The Zombro promotion was underway even before the Cubs lost director of pitching Ryan Otero to the Red Sox, notes Sharma. Otero had spent nearly eight years in Chicago’s player development department. Boston hired him as a special assistant to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, whom he had worked with in Chicago.
The Cubs finished ninth in ERA last season. The bullpen was particularly strong, ranking fifth in xFIP and sixth in SIERA. Journeyman starter Brad Keller was a crucial part of the late-inning mix, putting together a dominant campaign in his first foray as a reliever. Chicago scooped up Keller as a minor league free agent in January. Zombro was credited for the move, per Sharma. Keller posted a sterling 2.07 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning across 68 appearances. The righty has drawn widespread interest as a free agent, with some teams reportedly considering him as a starter.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Can he still pitch?
I bet Carlos Zambrano can
Is this big signing what the cubs were working on the last week down there in Orlando?
Is this another unoriginal “joke”?
Hey ‘Brucie’ – Is this another of your lame brain unoriginal comments?
Great now re-sign Keller.
He’s in your head! In your heaaaad! Zombo!!!
Had to think about that one for a minute, but I got it lol
That’s a better zombie reference than I was going to make.
Welp…I’m sold…charge my Visa for two of your best available 2026 World Series tickets now, all four home games of course.
I remember when he took that line drive to the head. It was brutal. Dude is lucky to be alive…
I’m a life long Cub fan, they are such a crap organization. While other teams improve the Cubs do nothing too help the product on the field
I agree and I’m a Cubs fan too. Seems like every winter they lead the league in minor league signings or one year contracts for relievers who might or might not be good. I know they did pretty good last year, but I’m really not expecting that again.
The Rays have entered the chat. At least the Cubs hold on to their youngsters once in a while.
@ccryder I disagree. “NOTHING to help the product on the field.” What a train wreck of a take . Pretty thoughtless.
When a Cubs fan has to preface his comments with their resume of Cubs fandom-ness, (I’m a lifelong fan! I’ve been a fan since xxxx!) you know it’s going to be a garbage take. Thank goodness morons like that are not running this org. Keeping a coveted evaluator like Zombo absolutely helps your on- field product.
The Cubs seem to be really invested in this guy, so I hope we see some real results. I am a little suspicious of the relationship the Cubs seem to be developing with this Tread outfit. Hoyer is always looking for edges, which is good, but he seems to prefer would-be edges that don’t cost much, which is not good. Signing Devin Williams or Ryan Helsley would have been a definite edge.
Maybe that’s because Hoyer’s Rolodex is finally running out of names? I don’t care where they get help as long as it’s legal. If they’re the people who helped Keller add 4 MPH to his fastball why not? If you look at the guys the Cubs are drafting as Starters you notice they aren’t necessarily the hardest throwers, They’re guys who already have solid second and third pitches. If they figure they can add MPH later might have something to do with it? IDK. If you look at this guy Snider he throws exactly like Birdsell. They are guys who basically shot put the ball from in front of them. I don’t like guys like that usually because they have horrible control usually. Birdsell is an exception his control is fine. Carson Fullmer was like that and the Sox tried to change him with zero success. In Birdsell, Steele and Wiggins the Cubs may have enough late year help coming from their own system. I would still like Imai though. A long term TOR arm would help the set up for the future.
Hoyer is pretty good at finding these guys. It’s about time he concentrated on KEEPING them. The good sign is that other teams still come here looking for these guys.
Agree unc. Maybe some day we’ll hear that Carter Hawkins has actually contributed to the teams future. On second thought . . . .
The next time Hawkins says something meaningful will be the first time he says something meaningful. I used to hope teams would come to steal Hoyer but then Hawkins would need to go too. I’ve learned to be careful what you wish for. Hawkins was hired o be a yes man and now that Hoyer has his extension we can only hope Hawkins moves on IMO.
How come every year the biggest signing the Cubs have in a management role but yet they refuse to spend on players?
It takes two to tango.
It is ALL about the dollars and the years.
You can do anything at Zombro.com
I love this move…and trust me, the Cubs do a lot to increase my blood pressure. Zombro was a control-heavy pitcher who was probably a AAAA guy; then, he almost dies and still comes back. Plus, the work with Tread is interesting. The Cubs have a pitcher (Jackson Kirkpatrick) who had 14.3 BB/9 and 15.8 K/9 ratios in college, and then Tread/Cubs work got him to 6.1 BB/9 and 13.3 K/9. Is Kirkpatrick a future MLB pitcher? Who knows, but he sure wasn’t one year ago (35.1 IP, 48 BB, 15 HBP, 14 WP). If the Cubs are going to be unnecessarily cheap, then stuff like this matters.
Thanks Herb for the perspective.
Good for him. When he was in the minors he was like having another coach on the field, and he was really big into finding new metrics and methods to improve player performance. I’m sure he’ll bring some of those smarts to the higher front office position. He sort of felt destined for a front office the minute he stepped on the minor league ballfield.