Musings From the Bleachers 05.01.08: A Scuttled Attempt at Being Positive
Posted by Frank Fedele on 05.01.2008
I was all ready to write some uplifting positive article. After all, it is May and trees are green and flowers are coming up. It is time to be positive, turn a new leaf as it were. Then something happened early in the week to change it all.
Positivity Dashed
I was prepared to write about some positive accomplishments of the early season. Like Greg Maddux and his search for 350 victories. A number that we will probably not see in the near future, if at all, with the way the modern bullpens are being handled right now. Then he loses his next start, so that blew that.
Then I contemplated writing about all the good young arms coming up to the majors and making a good show of it, like Max Scherzer of the Arizona Diamondbacks coming off a stellar early month in Tucson and a short stint in the bullpen.
Then it happened. Monday the San Francisco Giants announced they were moving $126 million dollar ace (yeah right) into the bullpen after a 0-6 start. The bullpen.
So dear readers, the column was decided.
Barry Zito
Barry Zito has won a Cy Young award in 2002 with a 23-5 record for the Oakland Athletics. He was the number one target on the free agent market after the 2006 season with the hope of cashing in his consistent pitching with the Oakland A's (and the fact that he was a power lefty, which has become more and more rare in the major leagues.)
The San Francisco Giants signed him for a staggering $126 million dollars over 7 years to be the new face of the franchise. His first season in San Francisco was not what the Giants were hoping for, but they felt now that he has adjusted to the National League and the new park he was poised to the be face of the franchise after the departure of Barry Bonds.
….Ummmm, not so much.
0-6 and a 7.53 ERA thus far in the 2008 season have banished Mr. Zito to the bullpen on the team he was supposed to be the face of.
And the issue is Mr. Zito's stuff at this time is well below average, with a fastball clocking in the low 80s. It is very hard to win at the major league level with that velocity, let alone consistently.
So the San Francisco Giants fans pray that a trip to the bullpen will awaken the wicked stuff that was highlighted while Barry was in the Oakland green and white.
And the rest of us just sit back and watch to see how it all will unfold.
