Baseball’s book on Cubs pitcher Chris Volstad

There’s always something intriguing about a first-round draft choice, especially if he’s a pitcher who stands 6-feet-8.

Meet new Cubs pitcher Chris Volstad, who was obtained in the off-season from the Miami Marlins in the Carlos Zambrano trade.

Volstad has a lifetime record of 32-39 after going 5-13 with a 4.89 ERA last year. The Cubs like Volstad enough to take a chance of him unlocking the potential the Marlins saw to make him their first-round draft pick in 2005.

“I definitely don’t think I’ve pitched to my ability,” Volstad said. “I’ve shown flashes of it, games here and there and maybe a little streak here and there, but I haven’t put together a whole season yet, and I really think I can. I’ve had my ups and downs, but I think they’re all learning experiences, and if you put them all together, this could be the time.”

Here is what others are saying about Volstad:

Baseball Prospectus, 2012 edition: “At 25, Volstad looks more like a back-of-the-rotation starter than a potential number two. He has shown steady, if glacial, progress in lowering his walks allowed while increasing his strikeouts, and his 2.39 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2011 was a career high.”

Chris Cwik, Fangraphs: “Volstad might not strike out many batters, but he limits walks much better than Zambrano. Volstad hasn’t been the most durable pitcher, either — but he’s still thrown 60-plus more innings than Zambrano during the past two seasons. Their ERAs might not show it, but Volstad has been nearly as good since 2010. Zambrano’s lead in FIP (fielding-independent pitching, calibrated to ERA) is a slim 4.17 to 4.33, and Volstad actually posted a superior xFIP (expected FIP) of 4.05 in that period.”

Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster: “Behind another disappointing season are signs of progress. Pro: Control ratio (BB/9) improvement pushed command ratio (K/BB) to acceptable level. Con: Healthy groundball rate should be holding down HR/9, but lefties are still pounding him (. 930 OPS). That’s the key to further gains.”