Barry Zito

That is just the tip of the iceberg, who decided that this guy was worth that big contract? Scott Boras should appear with Criss Angel and David Blaine.

I personally never thought he was great, just a good major league pitcher.

He's having an off season. It happens to the best.

Barry, though I really like him, has been nothing more than mediocre since beating out Pedro Martinez for the Cy Young a few years back. I don't know how he commanded such a huge contract.

He's a lefty. That's it. That's the list.

But why is his velocity so slow and his curveball so flat?

Not sure that the CB is the problem. Its hard to tell that it's flat from watching on TV. IMHO the problem is that he can't spot the FB, and at 84-85 you gotta pinpoint it. Hitters can sit back on the CB knowing that he's lacking confidence in the FB. Why the velo drop?
If you find answers please call Rags.

Zito has issues related to the Giants defense. The way the Giants play defense requires a strike out style pitcher to be succesful!

The Giants defense creates hits!! Good example is the pop up Bonds didn't get to yesterday, that ball is an out if Zito still pitching in Oakland, same thing for the foul popup Feliz couldn't handle and the blown double play opportunity (SS held ball, didn't attempt throw to first).

Combine a poor Giant defense with not hitting spots and you end up with high pitch counts and disappointment.

CollegeParent
I think those are very accurate comments. In Oakland, the foul ground is very unforgiving for hitters. In AT&T, it is very unforgiving for pitchers. With Bonds in left, a pitcher can throw a lot of extra pitches because balls fall that should be caught or because he is trying to be too fine and missing.
In addition, I question whether and how successful a pitcher can continue to be when they throw 2 pitches. Koufax did it because his fastball was 96 or so.
Zito is normally 86-88 but he does not change speeds nearly enough, IMO. In one recent game he did throw a few change ups off his fastball with success but that is pretty rare for him. One thing I constantly hear and read is that hitters have the most difficulty when pitchers change speeds. Maddux vs Zito would be a nice comparison, maybe.
Professional baseball is a constant series of adjustments and I question whether Zito is adjusting as the scouting reports and hitters caught up to him.
I also think he feels a great deal of pressure with the $126,000,000 and the very different team chemistry.
I don't blame him or his agent for the money. The Giants paid him a reported $30,000,000 more than any other offer. Pretty hard to say no to that I guess but I wonder if Zito is rethinking that about this point????

Zito used to touch 90 when he was right. It's been pointed out that no-one has seen anything close to that this year. Maybe Zito still wants to be a power pitcher, but I'd agree that the change up is sorely lacking. Maybe he just can't find the feel. As we saw last night, Zito's pitches were flying all over the yard and even the outs were pretty loud. Unfortunately he's had more than a couple outings like that this year. Yeah the Giants defense is porous at times, almost cheese-like


but don't forget they've still got a HOFer at SS who makes up for countless other lapses. Then again there aren't many teams that have to position the outfielders five to ten rows deep to catch a fly ball.
I hope Z finds what he lost.

Hey Sizz, check out your number of posts! Scaryyyyyy.

nevermind...it said 666 when I looked at it before. I think. ****, I'm going to bed.

You can't say c*rap here? LOL.

Nope!!!!!!

Here is Zito's line from last night:
IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
5.0 6 4 4 3 2 3 95-55 5.16

Giving up more homeruns than batters you strike out is not being very effective. His ERA this year is too heavy for an ace on any big league staff.

Where have you gone Barry Zito?

Perhaps it’s time that “Captain Quirk” contacts Professor Vernon Simpson (a.k.a. "King Kelly").

Or, maybe he should just hide the ball a little better!

From 6 months ago...

http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6616002781/...021075312#2021075312