Carlos Zambrano is ready for his closeup

Carlos Zambrano saw his first official game action as a member of the Phillies organization yesterday, tossing 4.1 innings of shutout ball at high Single-A Clearwater.

Zambrano had two strikeouts and two walks, so he wasn’t exactly dominant, but afterward the 31-year-old right-hander told David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News that he thinks the Phillies ought to call him up right now:

I’m ready. They are in control. My agent has been in touch with Mr. Ruben [Amaro] and we’ll see what happens. I’m ready. I’m ready to help this team. ... I was at my house doing nothing and now I have a job with one of the best teams in baseball, a team with good fans, a team that is competing every year. I like that. I like the chemistry. I like the system. I thank God that I’m here.

I’ll let Zambrano slide on the whole “one of the best teams in baseball” thing, because technically at 25-27 the Phillies are one of the best 20 or so teams in baseball.

Murphy writes that an immediate call-up is unlikely, in part because Zambrano threw just 81 pitches yesterday and in part because the Phillies need to decide which options they like best at the back of the rotation. And of course the fact that Zambrano hasn’t actually pitched well in two years is also part of the decision-making process.

Zambrano’s minor-league contract has a July 1 opt-out clause if he’s not in the majors, but the way he’s talking already it’s hard to believe he’ll be a happy campy still pitching in the minors by then.