On December 29, 2006, Barry Zito, a then 28-year-old southpaw from Las Vegas, signed a seven year contract worth approximately $126 million with the San Francisco Giants.
Zito had nothing but success in a more difficult league, and one of baseball's best offensive divisions, so Zito was sure to continue his success in the National League, right?
Well, if you follow baseball you know that Barry Zito has since lost his one-time Cy Young ability.
A few months into his first season with the Giants, Zito began to lose some of the edge that he possessed in his years with the Oakland Athletic. Zito's mechanics were the suspected problem.
Despite his mechanical issues, Zito finished the season with decent numbers for the Giants, who were not at all ready to contend for a playoff spot. Zito was an average pitcher on an average team. The Giants, obviously, were hoping and expecting a lot more from Zito in 2008.
Most baseball fans and analysts believed that Barry Zito couldn't do any worse in 2008 than he did in 2007.
The Giants needed Zito to be on his game and their young prospects to develop their talents on the major league level before being ready to compete for the National League Pennant.
Unfortunately only one of those things happened.
Barry Zito's 2008 campaign was easily the worst of his career. Zito lost 17 games, while walking more batters than he did in any other season, and sporting an ERA of 5.15 and a WHIP of 1.600, which was easily the worst of his career.
So naturally, entering 2009, there weren't many expectations for Zito, only hopes and aspirations.
Zito began his 2009 season with with a crumby, four-inning garbage game in San Diego. Zito allowed seven hits and four runs. Again, the Giants were disappointed.
After another poor start, Zito was ready to take the hill today, when the Giants played host to the San Diego Padres. Zito came into the matchup, with an ERA of 10.00 and a WHIP approaching two.
Zito came out firing on all cylinders. His control was spot on and his velocity was reminiscent of the Barry Zito, who won the Cy Young in 2002. Zito pitched seven strong innings, striking out five and walking none.
Now Zito has pitched games like these in the past two years, but the vibes given off by Zito lead one to believe that this could lead to a strong season for him. It wasn't obvious, but something was definitely different about Barry Zito today.
There is a strong possibility that Zito's strong start today was a fluke, but even if it was, he will have plenty of chances to prove himself over the next five seasons.
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