Zito to the 'pen?

by flipgatey3 on Apr 28, 2008 12:15 AM PDT

I was reading the recent news on CBS Sportsline, and stumbled across this interesting tidbit. Apparently the Gnats are deciding whether they should either skip Zito's next start, or just make him the longman altogether for the time being.

According to MLB.com, Giants manager Bruce Bochy called SP Barry Zito into his office after another poor start Sunday against the Reds and suggested he might have him skip a start or move to the bullpen.

"We can't keep doing what we are doing. We need to get together and get a game plan on what we think is best," Bochy said. "I'm sure there's a lot on his mind. He's got a lot of pride and he's taking this harder than anybody."

Zito gave up eight runs on seven hits and three walks in only three innings against the Reds, falling to 0-6.

"Obviously, I'm hurting the team right now," Zito said. "I just have to keep grinding and fighting. For me, this is an opportunity to stick it out and toe the line."

I feel for the guy, but it's probably time for him to skip a start and get some extra rest. Not so sure about him in the 'pen, assuming he would be the long reliever.

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What should the Giants do?

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the dude needs to look at tapes of when he could actually throw more than 83.

there’s obviously something wrong with his mechanics

"It's like déjà vu all over again." -yogi berra

by Cheezombie on Apr 28, 2008 12:39 AM PDT 0 recs

I saw the first inning

He did pitch poorly, but their second baseman is a tool. He was all over the place getting in the way and dropped the ball on one play and almost knocking the ball out of the SS mitt on another. The Giants I guess never really understood Zito. he needs a good defense to really be effective

"I hurt people I'm a dick" Garry TA

by Crapper Jon on Apr 28, 2008 5:11 AM PDT 0 recs

The bad thing is,

Ray Durham is an even worse 2b than Eugenio Velez.

The Giants D, has been very poor. Using plus minus, a D metric, they have the worst D in MLB; already 24 plays below average, about 17 runs below average. The A’s for comparison, are about average.

The Giants infield D, with Durham / Velez at 2b, and Castillo / Aurilia at 3b is easily the worst in MLB.

ZIPS: Milledge: 466 HR, 485 2B, 2282 hits, 278-379-524

by rfloh on Apr 28, 2008 6:43 AM PDT up 0 recs

Where is plus/minus available?

Just curious… I’ve never seen a site that shows it.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Apr 28, 2008 12:40 PM PDT up 0 recs

THT

ZIPS: Milledge: 466 HR, 485 2B, 2282 hits, 278-379-524

by rfloh on Apr 28, 2008 3:05 PM PDT up 0 recs

I did too, it was painful

by HRH on Apr 28, 2008 8:38 AM PDT up 0 recs

I watched his innings yesterday...

The guy just has a dead arm, period. I wonder if throwing curves at such an early age took a major toll on that arm.

I think they should send him down and work with him on an entirely different pitching approach. Throwing the guy out there to get hammered isn’t doing him or the Gnats any good – not that I care about the Gnats. But the league knows to stay away from his stuff off the plate and wait for those big fat 83 mph ‘fast’ balls down the middle – or take a walk. If he could control that 83 mph crap he might be effective at some point but he can’t hit the corners with it. He can’t control any of his other pitches, either, but that ‘fast’ ball is killing him.

by coffee roaster on Apr 28, 2008 7:46 AM PDT 0 recs

Dead Arm = no more steroids

Someone his age should not be losing 5-6 mph’s on his fastball. You notice with more testing there are pitchers throughout the league with “deadarms.” Stop being fooled by the baseball terminology.

by 33SwisherSweet on Apr 28, 2008 10:15 AM PDT up 0 recs

his mechanics suck, too

he’s always had a TON of wasted motion in his windup, and now he’s not generating ANY velocity with his legs

by mikev on Apr 28, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up 0 recs

I have to agree with you

by Athletic on Apr 29, 2008 12:42 AM PDT up 0 recs

so true

his arm is dead now, and they do need to take him out and DL him until he can get some arm strength. Maybe they should just eat his contract and dump him.

"I hurt people I'm a dick" Garry TA

by Crapper Jon on Apr 28, 2008 8:18 AM PDT 0 recs

That's what I'm thinking...

"Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa."- Casey Stengel

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 8:24 AM PDT up 0 recs

Not sure there's a stomach in MLB

that can digest a contract of that size…

by OaklandSi on Apr 28, 2008 9:10 AM PDT up 0 recs

this is what Gnat fans think of him

by sf drift king on Apr 28, 2008 1:47 PM PDT up 0 recs

Head case

He needs to donate about $14 million to a local charity and get the money off his mind and his conscience. Maybe he could relax if he’s back to working for league minimum.

"If you make up your mind not to be happy, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a fairly good time." -Edith Wharton (The Last Asset)

by Oakville Athletic on Apr 28, 2008 8:26 AM PDT 0 recs

Please don't do anything with him

until Oakland faces him. I’m praaaaaayyyying we see him twice. That would be sweet … Charlie Browning Zito twice this year.

VacaAsFan

by Vacafan on Apr 28, 2008 8:31 AM PDT 0 recs

+1

Yes Giants do that let him pitch twice against the A’s

"I hurt people I'm a dick" Garry TA

by Crapper Jon on Apr 28, 2008 8:54 AM PDT up 0 recs

My, how the mediocre have fallen.

MLBlackout.wordpress.com - Help put an end to MLB.tv blackouts

by HigherPie on Apr 28, 2008 9:06 AM PDT 0 recs

He can always go back to music.

Maybe not.

Notes From The Nat has a new home: http://www.natnotes.com

by Ozzz on Apr 28, 2008 10:38 AM PDT 0 recs

I'd say he's slightly better as a musician

which isn’t saying much…

"It's like déjà vu all over again." -yogi berra

by Cheezombie on Apr 28, 2008 11:44 AM PDT up 0 recs

I was hunting yesterday for the SP record for the longest losing streak to start a season

but I couldn’t find it. Anyone out there know ?

by green star oakland on Apr 28, 2008 11:25 AM PDT 0 recs

Matt Keough

started 0-14 for the ‘79 A’s. But I don’t think that is the record.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Apr 28, 2008 11:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

[opens record book]

Actually, Keough is tied with Joe Harris of the 1906 Boston Americans with an 0-14 start to the season.

Harris went 2-21 that year. The good news was that, in 24 starts, he threw 20 complete games.

Keough finally won in his 24th start of the season, beating the Brewers at the Coliseum on September 5 before a frenzied throng of 1,772.

by Soaker on Apr 28, 2008 12:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

The one I did find was Jack Nabors

who went 1-20 for the 1916 Philadelphia A’s while posting a 3.47 ERA … now that’s crappy run support.

Sadly for my purposes he got the win in his 2nd start of the season, although that did set him up for the record for consecutive loses (19).

by green star oakland on Apr 28, 2008 1:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

Well, hell

I guess I should have opened my record book.

Thanks Soaker.

Keough went 16-13 in 1980 (lowering his ERA from 5.04 to 2.92) to capture Comeback Player of the Year honors.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Apr 28, 2008 1:19 PM PDT up 0 recs

Should mention here

that for those interested, the 2008 Baseball Record Book is available as a free download from the Sporting News web site.

2008 Baseball Record Book

by Soaker on Apr 28, 2008 1:40 PM PDT up 0 recs

Barry needs to hire Rick Petersen

Zito needs to fork out a few million of his own $ & hire Mets pitching coach Rick Petersen as his personal pitching coach. Is that such a novel concept? These guys make enough $. They have personal trainers, but no pitching trainers. Why is that? Will we ever get to the point to were pitchers have their own entourage? I do not see why not.

by alpine26 on Apr 28, 2008 1:29 PM PDT 0 recs

Why is there never any discussion about...

..what a dolt Brian Sabien is as a GM? He’s horrible! He’s a sucker for signing old-guys and head cases, apparently.

by gregorymark on Apr 28, 2008 1:41 PM PDT 0 recs

because there's no need for discussion anymore

It’s just a given.

by mikev on Apr 28, 2008 2:08 PM PDT up 0 recs

I encourage you to visit McCovey Chronicles

(our sister blog).

Believe me, there is a LOT of discussion there about what a dolt Brian Sabean is.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Apr 28, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up 0 recs

Zito should try learning the knuckelball

it might make his “fastball” seem like a fastball instead. I mean desperate times call for desperate measures.

my uncle (a giant’s fan) also said they should leave him to pitch against the other teams top pitchers because they can’t hit them anyways. Why sacrifice Cain and Linceicum to 1-0 and 2-0 defeats. He also hopes Zito does so bad that he just retires. If he voluntarily retired would he still get the rest of his contract money?

You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}

by micdog2001 on Apr 28, 2008 3:11 PM PDT 0 recs

Not unless he retired...

..due to injury.

Watch them pull an Esteban on him in the coming days.

“Oh, he’s injured, we just didn’t know it until now.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Shh.”

Notes From The Nat has a new home: http://www.natnotes.com

by Ozzz on Apr 29, 2008 10:58 AM PDT up 0 recs

What about sending him down to work on a knuckleball?

with velocity down and a contract that simply cannot be absorbed, Zito seems like a prime candidate to take a shot at throwing the knuckler. At this point you gotta just feel for the guy…

"Just looking at Lackey's face, you just want to beat him" -Ray Fosse

by marco magic on Apr 28, 2008 3:12 PM PDT 0 recs

Why pay big money for a personal coach?

He could probably get Jim Bouton to teach him a decent knuck for the free publicity!

Formerly known as K56 and SPWC, in case anyone cares...

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 10:29 PM PDT up 0 recs

In that case

let’s get Gaylord to show him the spitter

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Apr 28, 2008 10:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

Let him work through it

That is, if he’s not injured. What do the Giants have to play for, exactly? That’s a crappy argument in terms of the product put on the field for the fans, I know, but can you really pay a guy that much money to mop up? It’s a rock and a hard place scenario—too much money invested, and nowhere else to put him. They certainly can’t eat a salary that big and cut him. At most, skip a start, but I’m not sure that extra rest will cure what ails him. At this point, it seems like he may need to start trying to adjust to the new state of things rather than trying to recapture the magic.

-JC
President and CEO of the Ryan Sweeney Apologists Consortium

by Joey C. on Apr 28, 2008 3:38 PM PDT 0 recs