You and I have something in common with Barry Zito. We all have the exact same number of wins as professional baseball pitchers in the month of April. No, I don't have any either. Relax.Dollar for dollar, it's hard to fathom that any pitcher in professional baseball could be worse. And Zito knows this. Which is how he ended up in front of his locker apologizing to the freaking media following the latest shellacking that dropped him to 0-6. This was followed by a principal-office-visit-like trip to Bruce Bochy's office.
'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.'Bochy called his pitcher into his office after the game to notify him that he may be sent to the bullpen or have his next start skipped.
Degrading? Absolutely. But better than having to visit the minors. Really, the best thing the team could do though, is just have the guy fake an injury. Send him in for fake surgery if you have to. But the Giants -- who have a pretty nice, young rotation outside of Barry -- need to get him out of the public's eye.
San Francisco is only at 11-15, but that's better or equal to five other National League teams, which, sadly, is an improvement from our preseason projections. But when Zito takes the mound and gets knocked around, which is to say every time he takes the mound, Giants fans aren't reminded of the young talented group that could make up a decent rotation in the future. They're reminded of Brian Sabean's incompetence. And it's not it will cost them any wins.
Fantasy Spin: Please don't own Zito. Much less start him.
ADVERTISEMENT
_thumbnail.jpg "NASCAR Cowboy Hats")
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I don't know, he didn't do that great of a job last year, and Bonds was still on the team. He had a 4.53 ERA last year. Yeah the lack or run support didn't help his record, but still, AT&T is a pitchers park, and he is pitching in a weaker NL. What ever happened to the 2002 Cy Young winner with the best curve ball in baseball? We may never see him again.
Posted at 6:42PM on Apr 28th 2008 by pennington4
2. Barry Zito was reported to be close friends with Barry Bonds. Is it possible that Zito would benefit from discussing his woes with Bonds? A pitcher needs confidence that he can get the batters out. Did the two work out together last year? Can releasing Bonds unceremoniously have such a negative effect? Just wondering.
Posted at 7:21PM on Apr 28th 2008 by JULIUS ROMANOFF
3. perfect example for incentive contracts instead of guarantees of all that money MAKE THESE CRYBABIES WORK FOR IT BEFORE GIVING IT TI THEM.
Posted at 7:23PM on Apr 28th 2008 by Mike
4. This is not entirely at Sabean's feet. Magowan has his fingers all over this as well but it will likely be Sabean who takes the fall
Posted at 8:59PM on Apr 28th 2008 by N James
5. Zito.....you make me sick !
Posted at 9:08PM on Apr 28th 2008 by giantfan99
6. Is it possible that Barry, being from Oakland was a BALCO guy? I'm not saying he was ever linked to BALCO, but look at his stats as they have fallen off the face of the Earth the last couple of years. It isn't as though he is 34, he's still a young guy.
Posted at 12:50AM on Apr 29th 2008 by carmen
7. I don't think Zito was a steroids guy. He is pretty skinny and never had a fastball over 90. The Giants just gave him a HUGE contract and his fastball went from something you can work with (88) to something thats just too slow (82-83).
Posted at 12:51AM on Apr 29th 2008 by tobrien28
8. sometimes when a pitcher goes from one league to another,a pitcher isn't as successful.evry now and then there is an exception to the rule,like Johan Santana.
I remember the Dodgers paid big bucks for American league pitchers Like Dave Goltz from Minnesota and Don Stanhouse from Baltimore,those two guys amounted to a waste of money,they would have been better off signing with the Yankee,as Barry Zito should have done ,a few years ago!
Posted at 12:52AM on Apr 29th 2008 by Tony Melendez