Knuckle Curve » barry zito

Barry Zito Leads Giants to an Important Win

Stephen Kersey — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:50:12 +0000

Since signing a $126 million contract with San Francisco Giants, Barry Zito has been a huge disappointment. However, in his third season with the Giants, he is finally starting to live up to his billing. On Saturday, he led San Francisco to a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

In 8.1 innings, Barry Zito gave up only one earned run while striking out seven batters. On the season, he has a record of 9-11 and an ERA of 3.94. His ERA is lower than any point since leaving the Oakland Athletics following the 2006 baseball season.

Pable Sandoval provided the offense for the Giants. He went 3-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. His big hit was a second inning solo home run.

With the win, the Giants closed the gap in the NL Wild Card race to only one game. The Rockies would get in right now with a 72-58 record, however the Giants are right behind them at 71-59. The two teams play again on Sunday. The Giants can tie the Rockies with a win.

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Barry Zito Back in Rotation for Giants

Stephen Kersey — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:31:18 +0000

Well, Barry Zito’s demotion didn’t last too long. About a week ago, the San Francisco Giants announced that Zito would be moving to the bullpen in an effort to increase his effectiveness.

Today, before Zito ever made an appearance out of the bullpen, it was announced that he’d return to the starting rotation. The Giants are pointing to a pair of practice sessions that they hope will solve some of the issues Zito has been having.

On the season, Zito has a 7.53 ERA and is 0-6 on the season. Overall, he has been a major disappointment since signing a seven-year, $126 million before the beginning of the 2007 season. After starring for the Oakland A’s, Zito has been unable to find the same magic with the Giants.

Last season, Zito posted a career-high ERA of 4.53 and failed to pitch 200 innings for the first time since he became a full-time starter. Now with the Giants 14-19 on the season, Giants fans have routinely booed Zito for his poor play.

It’s a bit early to call Zito a bust of epic proportions – but it sure is looking like that will be the case. The 30-year-old needs to turn it around ASAP or else the Giants could send him back to the bullpen – and for real this time.

Photo: Newscom

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So, Was It Good For You?

Geoff Young — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:50:31 +0000

Ah, Opening Day. I hope you had as much fun as we did (full report at Ducksnorts). Beyond the thrill of a packed house at Petco Park watching Jake Peavy spin a shutout, here are a few items from Monday that caught my eye:

The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2. The planet’s best pitcher against a Triple-A squad — who could’ve have anticipated such a result? Uh, everyone.
The Pittsburgh/Atlanta game was insane. The Pirates took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves tied. Then the Bucs jumped ahead in the 12th, 12-9, before allowing two runs in the bottom half and hanging on for a 12-11 victory. Xavier Nady, whom I’ve been following since he took home Cal League MVP honors in 2001 while playing for a great Lake Elsinore Storm club (Peavy and Mets left-hander Oliver Perez also played on that team, which went 91-49), knocked two homers, including the game winner.
The Giants really stink. Good thing they’re paying Barry Zito all that money.
The Brewers and Cubs ran a clinic on how not to close a game. Locked in a scoreless tie headed to the ninth, Milwaukee plated three runs in the top half off “closer” Kerry Wood, then watched “closer” Eric Gagne cough up three of his own in the bottom half. The Brewers scored in the top of the 10th and hung on to win, 4-3. Who got credit for the victory? The least deserving guy in the ballpark, of course: Gagne. The next time someone tries to tell you that a pitcher is good because of his won-loss record, remind them that the rules dictating how a win is “earned” don’t necessarily correlate with actually contributing to victory.
Break up the Nationals. With Monday’s 11-6 drubbing of Philadelphia, they’re assured of finishing no worse than 2-160 this year.
Livan Hernandez pitched well in his Twins debut. Actually, for all the grief Minnesota took in signing him, he matched Johan Santana’s line — two runs in seven innings — and got the win. Not that he’ll keep pace with Santana beyond, oh, right about now, but still…
The White Sox seem to be a sexy dark horse candidate this season, but I just don’t see it. By my count, they’ve got about three or four good pitchers, depending on whether you believe Octavio Dotel can stay of the disabled list. One of them (Mark Buehrle) got absolutely pounded at Cleveland. Granted, the Indians will do that to a pitcher, but if the White Sox can’t win behind Buehrle, then what are they going to do when, say, Gavin Floyd toes the slab?

Good times, my friends. Good times…

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Mets Extend Santana

Geoff Young — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:38:53 +0000

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived: The New York Mets have signed Johan Santana to a 6-year, $137.5 million deal, which means that the trade with Minnesota is on and the Twins are hosed. Incentives could kick the total value of his contract to $150 million.

Santana becomes the highest paid pitcher in big-league history. His contract surpasses the 7-year, $126 million deal Barry Zito signed with the San Francisco Giants last winter. When you look at it in that context, the Santana signing seems like an absolute bargain. And the Zito signing still seems like an absolute waste of money.

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