While many might be pondering what the acquisition of Pedro Martinez could do for the Philadelphia Phillies, where Roy Halladay is going to go, or what other top arms could make their way to contenders in the second half, there’s an arm already on a contender that could prove to have a significant say in what happens in the National League in the second half.
The San Francisco Giants have the reigning NL Cy Young winner, a future Hall of Famer, and a potential soon-to be Cy Young winner in their rotation, and their stable full of talented arms is a big reason why the Giants go into the second half of the season atop the NL‘s wild-card standings.
But it’s not Tim Lincecum, Randy Johnson, or Matt Cain that I’m talking about, but the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of their rotation, Barry Zito.
Zito had an outstanding start in Oakland and won the AL Cy Young in only his second full season in the majors, going 23-5 with a 2.78 ERA in 2002.
After leaving Oakland after the 2006 season to ink a monster deal with the Giants, Zito has been a big disappointment as a Giant, to say the least. Zito is 26-39 in his two and a half seasons in San Francisco, and after going 10-17 with a 5.15 ERA in 2008, he’s 5-9 with a 5.01 ERA this season.
His time hasn’t been devoid of bright spots. When Zito’s on, he can be masterful. Against Florida on July 7, he pitched 8.1 shutout innings and allowed only four hits and one walk in a 3-0 win over the Marlins.
However, when he’s not on, it can often enough get very, very ugly. Giants pitching dominated San Diego’s putrid offense in the first three games last week, including Jonathan Sanchez’s surprise no-hitter last Friday, putting San Fran in position for a four-game sweep and the chance to finish the first half as one of only four teams with 50 wins.
But Zito, fresh off of his best outing of the season, had his worst outing against the league’s worst offense, giving up nine hits and 10 runs in 4.1 innings as the Giants fell 10-4. Even then he showed just how up and down he can be - allowing three runs in the first, none in the second, three in the third, none in the fourth, and then allowing three hits in the fifth before he was finally pulled.
Bruce Bochy stuck with Zito on Sunday even with things not going well, and that‘s been the case throughout his time in San Francisco. There was a demotion to the bullpen early last season, but even that didn’t last very long.
Is it optimism bordering on stubbornness? As I said, when he’s on, he’s on, and Bochy may be willing to take the bad that comes with the great.
Is it remembrance of the amount of money that’s invested in him? Zito’s going to be skipping to the bank whether he’s allowed no runs or nine runs the day before, and until or unless Zito can start proving he’s worth that fat contract, a $126 million cloud is going to be hanging over the franchise’s head.
Maybe we’ll never see the same Zito that was one of the game’s best young pitchers several years ago. But the Giants don’t need him to be a stud every time out for him to be successful - he just needs to be solid, which means less implosions and more quality starts.
Does he need to be sent to the bullpen like Sanchez was? Does he need to be sent down to the minors like Florida did with Ricky Nolasco? Do they need to cut ties for once and for all?
Maybe the team needs to give him a wakeup call, and maybe he needs to give himself a wakeup call and tell himself what’s at stake for both he and the team, but it’s looking like now or never for Zito. There’s another talented young arm waiting in the wings in Ryan Sadowski, who will likely be recalled to the bigs in the near future, and if Sanchez can build off of his no-hitter in his next few fill-in starts for Randy Johnson, more struggles by Zito could see him be the odd man out.
Whatever happens with Zito will be key to their hopes of holding off their challengers for the NL wild card and perhaps even giving the Dodgers a serious challenge for the NL West title, more so than being able to get consistent run production to back up their other starters.
As it is, the Giants have a bright future, but if Zito can step up, it’ll help solidify the Giants’ merits as a serious contender right now, with a staff that no one will want to face in the second half and in October.
If he can’t, it could spell the end for Zito as a Giants’ starter for now or for good, because as much money as there is invested in him, and as good as he can be, taking a risk and hoping that you get Mr. Hyde instead of Dr. Jekyll every now and then isn’t - or shouldn’t be - worth jeopardizing their October hopes.
