Post by iport10 on Jun 21, 2008 20:11:24 GMT -5
www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_9657260
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After Barry Zito's two-inning meltdown Wednesday, Giants General Manager Brian Sabean and members of the coaching staff emerged from a long discussion with the left-hander and decided to let him make his next turn in the rotation. Zito will pitch Saturday at Cleveland, Manager Bruce Bochy confirmed.
But the club's patience is limited, Sabean said on KNBR.
While Sabean is convinced that Zito and pitching coach Dave Righetti have a solid plan to address the left-hander's considerable failures, the GM said he challenged the $126 million pitcher to conquer mental issues and take his encouraging side sessions into games.
"I was satisfied . . . that they want to stay the course with what they're doing, changing the arm angle, trying to get him to hit the outside part of the plate," Sabean said on his weekly radio appearance. "But you've got to cross that barrier of the white line and just mentally get it done.
"One of the things we talked about is, 'Forget your win totals, forget whether you've got a chance to win a game, forget your ERA. The biggest thing you need to do right now for yourself and everybody's sanity is stay out on the mound, give us six or seven innings and let the chips fall.'
"I do agree that right now it's to the point where we think we're making strides. But if it doesn't start showing up in the game, it's going to have to be (re-evaluated from) start to start."
Zito, who is 2-11 with 6.32 ERA, is overhauling his approach in the middle of a season and said he is encouraged that results will follow soon.
Prior to his start May 23 at Florida, Zito made an adjustment to drop his arm slot after years of drifting further and further over the top. He said he has more velocity, regularly hitting 86-87 mph, and gets more movement on a two-seam, sinking fastball that he is throwing more often.
While his curveball doesn't have its signature rainbow break, Zito said it could remain an effective pitch from the lower slot. The biggest problem has been finding the release point on his changeup.
In his first game with the new slot, Zito held the Marlins to three hits and a run over six innings - his best outing of the season
"If I can have a good game against Florida my first time with this adjustment, then it's definitely repeatable," Zito said. "When something is new, you just do it. You don't think about it. But as it gets more comfortable, then you start having to fine-tune those things and that's when you get into habits. That's what has been happening."
Despite the lack of results, Zito said he is more encouraged than he was while pitching well in the second half last year.
"Definitely, I have better stuff with this adjustment," he said. "Last year I had a decent couple months with the stuff I had, but I never felt quite like I had the late life or movement. Now, throwing on the side, it's really good. So when I take it into a game, consistency is the key. It can't just be good for a hitter here or there."
Said Sabean: "He's miserable because of what this is doing to his career and reputation. But we've got to stay the course because of the investment and the fact the kid is trying. If he was some sap just collecting his money, it'd be a different story. But everybody is pulling for this guy and we've got to figure it out. We've got to be smart enough to do it."
------------------------------------
i can understand them having faith in him but i think that they should send him down to AAA to get back in focus. It looks like THE worst signing in the MLB
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After Barry Zito's two-inning meltdown Wednesday, Giants General Manager Brian Sabean and members of the coaching staff emerged from a long discussion with the left-hander and decided to let him make his next turn in the rotation. Zito will pitch Saturday at Cleveland, Manager Bruce Bochy confirmed.
But the club's patience is limited, Sabean said on KNBR.
While Sabean is convinced that Zito and pitching coach Dave Righetti have a solid plan to address the left-hander's considerable failures, the GM said he challenged the $126 million pitcher to conquer mental issues and take his encouraging side sessions into games.
"I was satisfied . . . that they want to stay the course with what they're doing, changing the arm angle, trying to get him to hit the outside part of the plate," Sabean said on his weekly radio appearance. "But you've got to cross that barrier of the white line and just mentally get it done.
"One of the things we talked about is, 'Forget your win totals, forget whether you've got a chance to win a game, forget your ERA. The biggest thing you need to do right now for yourself and everybody's sanity is stay out on the mound, give us six or seven innings and let the chips fall.'
"I do agree that right now it's to the point where we think we're making strides. But if it doesn't start showing up in the game, it's going to have to be (re-evaluated from) start to start."
Zito, who is 2-11 with 6.32 ERA, is overhauling his approach in the middle of a season and said he is encouraged that results will follow soon.
Prior to his start May 23 at Florida, Zito made an adjustment to drop his arm slot after years of drifting further and further over the top. He said he has more velocity, regularly hitting 86-87 mph, and gets more movement on a two-seam, sinking fastball that he is throwing more often.
While his curveball doesn't have its signature rainbow break, Zito said it could remain an effective pitch from the lower slot. The biggest problem has been finding the release point on his changeup.
In his first game with the new slot, Zito held the Marlins to three hits and a run over six innings - his best outing of the season
"If I can have a good game against Florida my first time with this adjustment, then it's definitely repeatable," Zito said. "When something is new, you just do it. You don't think about it. But as it gets more comfortable, then you start having to fine-tune those things and that's when you get into habits. That's what has been happening."
Despite the lack of results, Zito said he is more encouraged than he was while pitching well in the second half last year.
"Definitely, I have better stuff with this adjustment," he said. "Last year I had a decent couple months with the stuff I had, but I never felt quite like I had the late life or movement. Now, throwing on the side, it's really good. So when I take it into a game, consistency is the key. It can't just be good for a hitter here or there."
Said Sabean: "He's miserable because of what this is doing to his career and reputation. But we've got to stay the course because of the investment and the fact the kid is trying. If he was some sap just collecting his money, it'd be a different story. But everybody is pulling for this guy and we've got to figure it out. We've got to be smart enough to do it."
------------------------------------
i can understand them having faith in him but i think that they should send him down to AAA to get back in focus. It looks like THE worst signing in the MLB
