Rothschild confident Zambrano's arm is fine

All it takes is for a couple of subpar outings for speculation to start about Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano possibly being hurt.

So it was Wednesday when talk on the radio centered on Zambrano possibly having a tired shoulder.

Zambrano didn't talk about it, but Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild did.

"That's news to me because he's done his sides," Rothschild said, referring to Zambrano's sessions of throwing on the side between starts. "He's done everything without any problems. He's had a couple bad starts.

"Stuff-wise, I thought his stuff was OK. I've obviously seen better. You're not going to have your best stuff every start."

Zambrano lost 6-5 to the Reds on Tuesday night, giving up 13 hits in 7 innings and striking out no one. He lost 8-2 in Houston last week.

His worst start before that came on June 1, when he gave up 13 hits and 6 earned runs in 5 innings, also without a strikeout. That day, he fought catcher Michael Barrett.

Back in May, Zambrano denied rumors he was hurting.

"I don't know that that's the issue," Rothschild said. "If it is, he's hiding it, which I don't think is the case."

About the lack of strikeouts, Rothschild had this explanation: "They were swinging at some pitches early in the count. He had 23 first-pitch strikes on the hitters he faced, which, for him, is a huge number. Part of the game plan is to swing at pitches early in the count."

Rothschild added that the velocity on Zambrano's fastball was not an issue. The 26-year-old righty leads the Cubs with 168 innings pitched.

"He's pitched a lot of innings, and you're going to go through some ups and downs," the coach said. "If it's fatigue, I don't know that it's something that lasts. I don't know that anybody knows that. I don't know how people speculate about it. I know he's had two bad starts, and it's easy to connect those dots."

Rothschild said he wouldn't adjust Zambrano's turn in the rotation because something "was speculated on the radio."

Manager Lou Piniella also said he hadn't heard anything about Zambrano being hurt.

Into the night: The Cubs went well into the evening in last-minute negotiations with their No. 1 pick from this year's amateur draft.

They had until 11 p.m. CDT Wednesday to come to terms with third baseman Josh Vitters of Cypress High School in California or lose his rights.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Vitters was the top-ranked position player out of high school by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. The Cubs took him with the third pick overall. In his senior season, Vitters batted .390 with 9 homers and 29 RBI in 24 games with Cypress.

Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken sounded an optimistic note during the afternoon.

"It's pretty positive," Wilken said of talks between Vitters and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry. "We'll get it done. The arrow's pointed northbound. Nothing's been adversarial."

Oh, man, it's Ohman: Recently demoted lefty Will Ohman made his debut Tuesday night for Class AAA Iowa in a 2-0 loss at Omaha. Ohman allowed 1 hit and a walk while striking out one in two-thirds of an inning.

When the Cubs sent Ohman out last week, he said his left shoulder was "barking." The media in Omaha quoted Iowa manager Buddy Bailey as saying it didn't appear that Ohman's shoulder was bothering him.