Barry Zito's value to the Giants? Depends on how you look at it. He was paid to be an ace -- one of the premier pitchers in baseball. That was the Cutthroat Island of baseball contracts, and it's been a flop. But he was still valuable as a bottom-of-the-rotation guy, a pitcher who could throw close to 200 innings of league-average ball. This seemed to be his fate for the remaining 37 years left on his contract. The Giants' best pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler, is in high-A, and nobody in the upper minors was expected to push for Zito's spot any time soon.
Barry Zito Pitches Bullpen Session; Giants Tell Him To Take His Sweet Time
So even though Zito was pitching poorly to start the year, it wasn't supposed to be a good thing for him to get hurt. The only option the Giants had was a 30-something journeyman: Ryan Vogelsong, who the Giants drafted back when they played at Candlestick Park. He was awful for the Pirates, mediocre in Japan, and came back to pitch terribly in triple-A last year. If you think that's hyperbole...
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | W | L | G | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 32 | 2 Teams | 2 Lgs | AAA | PHI,LAA | 3 | 8 | .273 | 4.81 | 33 | 95.1 | 107 | 51 | 8 | 62 | 110 | 1.773 | 5.9 | 10.4 |
Give him credit for the strikeout rate, but that walk rate was dreadful. Since 1919, only 119 major-league pitchers have walked that many hitters in 90 innings or more. Some of them had above-average ERAs, but they tended to have names like “Nolan Ryan” and “Bob Feller.” Most of the pitchers had miserable ERAs, as you’d expect.
But, again, Vogelsong had that walk rate in triple-A, where Wily Mo Pena is the most feared hitter in the land. Ronnie Belliard is an every-day player in AAA. So when a pitcher does that poorly in the minors, it follows that he shouldn't be a long-term solution in the majors, regardless of how well he pitched in spring training. The Giants needed Zito to come back as soon as possible.
Because baseball is an impish thing that likes to mess with your mind, though, Vogelsong has pitched fantastically.
| Year | W | L | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | 1.93 | 7 | 5 | 32.2 | 24 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 29 | 1.041 | 6.6 | 2.8 | 8.0 | 2.90 |
That’s 32 innings of quality pitching. The walk rate is much lower, the strikeout rate is above average for a starter, and he’s keeping the ball in the park. The caveat, of course, is sample size. Anyone can look good for 32 innings. Zito has done it for the Giants for stretches in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010. Just because the stretch comes at the beginning of the season doesn’t mean it’s more believable.
But the Giants have to see if Vogelsong can keep this up. He sure looks like a good starting pitcher right now. That means that Zito can work on a few more things while he’s in Wally Pipp limbo. From Andrew Baggarly:
Between his work in the bullpen and his three innings in simulated game conditions Tuesday, Barry Zito threw roughly 100 pitches off a mound -- the workload at which most rehabbing starters are considered stretched out and ready.But Zito will not rejoin the Giants rotation in five days. He won’t return within a week, or even two.
...the Giants and Zito are using this time on the disabled list to make some tweaks, experiment with some new grips, search for a little more zip on his low-80s fastball and give him more avenues to retire hitters on a consistent basis.
It's quite the luxury. With five starting pitchers throwing well, the Giants can let their $126 Million Man work on a few things. Tinker around with that grip he saw Ted Lilly use. Throw some long-toss. Take care of that squeaky gate in the front yard. If and when Vogelsong returns to being Ryan Vogelsong, presumably the Giants will have a rested Zito filled with the Secrets of the Ancients, readier than he's ever been for action.
Until then, he’ll wait. And the Giants are a-okay with that. It’s just your typical sixth starter situation. Well, except for that whole “contract equivalent to the gross domestic product of Kyrgyzstan” angle. But that’s just nitpicking.
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