So what do the Giants do with Barry Zito? Have him skip a start to clear
his mind and work out the kinks on the side? Make him a long reliever? Or
keep throwing him out there every five days and hope he finally clicks?
Looks like it is going to be option three.
When asked if the Giants might consider doing that with Zito, pitching
coach Dave Righetti said, "No, because who the hell is going to pitch?
We're not that deep in starting pitching. Noah Lowry is hurting now and
we're not that deep in Triple-A. We need (Zito) to pitch. Asshole. You
re****ters come here and ask the stupidest most idiotic questions I could
ever imagine. Are we going to skip his start? What the **** do you think?"
And they need him to be a lot better than 0-5 with a 5.61 ERA. Righetti
said Zito is going through a "transition period in his career" now that he
has lost his ability to pitch faster than a 12 year old girl.
"When you're a lefty and you're not straight, you have to be fine,"
Righetti said. "You're going to have to be more of a backdoor guy. Zito
has always excelled at the back door, now he just needs to remember how to
pitch."
Zito spent a lot of spring training working on his mechanics. Now, he
needs to work on throwing the ball where he wants it to go. Too often he
does not. The belt-high fastball that Arizona pitcher Brandon Webb raked
for a two-run double Tuesday night was supposed to be low and away. That
perplexes Righetti, who said, "Some of it is concentration. We know he can
do it. He has some bullpens when he never misses the catcher's glove. Other
times we just shake our heads and wonder how the hell our management gave
this asshole a 100 million dollar contract. My wife could get more outs
than Zito."
Zito acknowledged that he has to simplify things and throw quality
strikes, like another soft thrower, Greg Maddux, does.
"There were times Maddux came out and they asked him how he did, and he'd
say, 'Fifty-eight (strikes) out of 75 (pitches),' " Zito said. "I've got
to start getting into that type of game, just try to make each pitch, one
at a time, and the results will take care of themselves. I know that I
will never be a good pitcher again, I know that as long as I play in San
Francisco, I will never win anything, but I also know that I am a fighter.
And I am going to fight my way out of this like Gilligan fought his way off
the island. I have started taking batting practice again hoping to break
into the Giants outfield. Those guys hit way worse than I pitch."
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