When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

05.07.2008
Barry Zito Back to Work

It turns out Zito didn’t suffer an extended banishment in the bullpen or take a few weeks off to surf. He’s back in the starting rotation tonight. It’s not a reversal, exactly, as the Giants were careful to avoid setting a specific timetable.

But when he was demoted after his lousy start at home against the Reds, it sounded like the team brass had been thinking about the move for a while. Reading the tea leaves — or the schedule, which indicated the Giants wouldn’t need a fifth starter until this weekend — it seemed Zito would skip more than one start.

Perhaps tonight, against a small-market team in front of a small-market crowd, is Zito’s audition, with a longer exile in store if he flunks. You have to wonder: What if the Pirates knock him around? Will the Giants start Zito five days later, on Monday at home against Houston? If he flops tonight, the boo-birds will be out in full force at home, and his confidence will be at an all-time low.

What to look for tonight: Zito says his time off helped him re-focus on being aggressive. Bruce Bochy says his biggest problem has been location (duh). Bochy and Righetti say Zito hasn’t learned new pitches or added more movement to his pitches during his time off. He’s just going to throw more strikes. If I were the Pirates, I’d take this quote from Zito —

“For me, it's about being aggressive. You can definitely get away with pitches early in the count that you can't late in the count. Late in the count, you've got to be fine.”

— and look for a lot of first-pitch 84–MPH fastballs. Let’s hope the new mindset helps him hit the corners.

Is Zito back too soon? Discuss.

Or, if you’re had enough negatrosity for now, send Barry a little encouragement in today’s comments. To do my part, and to honor the new aggressive, strike-throwing, good-location mindset, I’m busting out a rally rag, of sorts, courtesy of BigO. Go get them Buccos, Barry!







[May 7, 2008 2:10 PM]  |  link  |  reply
CJ said

Man, I hope it's a good move. I'd be lying if I said I was optimistic though...

[May 7, 2008 2:28 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Bayside Baller said

I hope it works out. Just any kind of sign of improvement. I'm too pessimistic to expect much, however. If the Pirates knock him around, who knows what the Giants do.

[May 7, 2008 6:27 PM]  |  link  |  reply
reeky said

Against the Pirates? They've been *pounding* us for years! Zito's screwed. He'll be back in the bullpen during home stands, though the chance to seriously boo Zito might fill some seats at Mays Field.

The positive to take away: we get to see the bad Zito this year, instead of 2 years hence when we're competitive -- imagine if he was 2-4 with a 4.2 ERA -- he could hang forever. A stinkin' year or maybe two, we swallow hard, and eat the contract. Oh well.