Zito analysis

[KHenry14]

Well, another loss yesterday, and I got to thinking about what the heck has gone wrong. It's well documented that Zito's lost about two feet of his fastball, but it's more than that. He's alos lost his control. Barry is having real trouble throwing the fastball for strikes now, he was high so many times yesterday that it was ridiculous. To me it looks like two issues, a mechanics issue and a confidence issue. It's almost like he's afraid to throw the FB in the strike zone because he know's he's going to be hammered. That probably wouldn't be the case if he could spot the location of the fastball, but that's not happening.

Now obviously Rags and the Giants are working on his mechanics, but they need to keep at it or else he wont win a game all year. A guy can be successful in the league without a 90 mile per hour heater (can you say Jamie Moyer?) but he can locate his pitches a heck of a lot better than Barry. I just don't think this a Steve Blass kind of thing however.

So I'm soliciting opinons of fellow Giants fans...agree or disagree?

BTW, there's a part of me that thinks that all Barry may need is an easy win. Like starting a game where the Giants score 10 runs in the first inning and he can cruise for five innings. That might help take a lot of the pressure off him. But with the state of the Giants offense that may take a while!

[Silver Blaze]

Your last point goes to putting him in the pen and bring him out with a huge lead or mop-up duty. Can he be sent down to the minors to work it out or is he out of options? I guess the latter since he's already reached FA. Although who would claim him on waivers with that contract? I guess the thought is SF aren't going anywhere this year, so keep running him out there. Hope he puts it together soon, otherwise this contract could go down as the biggest bust in FA pitcher history.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I just don't buy the "mechanics" reason. If Zito simply has a "pitching mechanics' problem shouldn't he have fixed it by now. Seriously, everyone has been saying that Zito has "pitching mechanics" issues since last year. It takes this long to fix such a issue? I think it's quite possible that Zito's arm has simply deteriorated for some reason and he'll never get back to where he was a few years ago.

[Love The Game]

The problem with Mr. Zito is the total loss in velocity. No one in the MLB fears an 83 mph fastball. He was 90-91 while winning the Cy Young in Oakland. Something had to go wrong with his body in order for him to lose 8 mph on the heater. He's not old. He used to have the big sharp curve, but it seems flat at times now. He lost velocity, lost confidence, lost control.

[KCW]

Check out this article on Zito:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/crossing-the-bridge-a-closer-look-at-what-happened-to-barry-zitos-fastball/

It's worth reading the previous 3 articles (linked at the top) to get a better idea of what he's talking about. I am not a pitching mechanics expert by any means, but what this guy says seems to make sense, and I really wonder if the Giants have analyzed Zito to this extent. Considering they invested so much in him, you would hope they would have figured all of this stuff out plus more by now.

[KCGHOST]

It would be nice if the Giants could figure out what to do with Zito. You would hate to see $126M just flushed down the toilet.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

It would be nice if the Giants could figure out what to do with Zito. You would hate to see $126M just flushed down the toilet.

I agree. You can't just release Zito and lose all that money. That would make no business sense whatsoever.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Check out this article on Zito:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/crossing-the-bridge-a-closer-look-at-what-happened-to-barry-zitos-fastball/

It's worth reading the previous 3 articles (linked at the top) to get a better idea of what he's talking about. I am not a pitching mechanics expert by any means, but what this guy says seems to make sense, and I really wonder if the Giants have analyzed Zito to this extent. Considering they invested so much in him, you would hope they would have figured all of this stuff out plus more by now.

Interesting information for sure. Is there anyway we can forward this to Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, and Rags?

[west coast orange and black]

^^
you've been reading too many blogs, rzt. besides, that k-void story was floated last year.

so, what's this of the respected neukom reduced by you to being a muckety muck?
do you even like the giants at all? even a little?

[Old Sweater]

I still believe that Zito is going to turn this around once he makes the mental adjustments to all the pressure of his contract.>see Yankees>see Tigers>see Mets

I did get a chuckle outta this picture tho from the Onion.



Taking pitching advice from "Omar the Great" really cracked me up.

[west coast orange and black]

^^
Zito is going to turn this around once he makes the mental adjustments

absolutely.

[KHenry14]

BTW, there's a part of me that thinks that all Barry may need is an easy win. Like starting a game where the Giants score 10 runs in the first inning and he can cruise for five innings. That might help take a lot of the pressure off him. But with the state of the Giants offense that may take a while!

Well, it didn't take as long as I thought. The Giants scored early and often and that had to take the pressure off of Barry. Good for him to get off the schneid! :applaud:

[chris14]

He lost velocity, lost confidence, lost control.

That's it exactly.
He was losing his velocity before he even left oakland.
It was just a very poor signing by the Giants at that price.
They outbid themselves.

[Dodgerfan1]

I still say the Dodgers made an even worse FA signing last year with Jason Schmidt! At least the Giants are getting some starts from Zito. Of course, the pitcher the Dodgers had to use in Schmidt's stead didn't lose as many games as Zito is likely to lose this year, so maybe in that respect.....

[chris14]

I still say the Dodgers made an even worse FA signing last year with Jason Schmidt! At least the Giants are getting some starts from Zito. Of course, the pitcher the Dodgers had to use in Schmidt's stead didn't lose as many games as Zito is likely to lose this year, so maybe in that respect.....

I think if they both suck really bad, I would rather be on the hook for the lesser contract.