To Reclaim Career, Zito Put in the Work

SAN FRANCISCO -- Throughout Barry Zito's career, from his rise to prominence with the A's to his quick decline with the Giants to his apparent rebirth, one thing has remained consistent.

Zito has always been introspective, unafraid to open up to the media about what's going on in his head, and how that affects what goes on between the lines.

It is for that reason that much of the talk about the "new Zito," who is 5-1 with a 1.90 ERA, has been focused on how his attitude and thought process has changed, and how much more confidence he has on the mound.

Without dismissing any of that, because it's all legitimate, the rest of the story is that Zito is now pitching better because he's got better pitches to throw, and that comes from the gym and the bullpen mound, not a therapist's couch.

"He's physically stronger, in better shape," pitching coach Dave Righetti said. "I think he's made himself a pretty good athlete out here. He really has. It starts with that."



Share When Zito first pulled on a Giants uniform after signing that $126 million deal, he was aware that he'd been losing some of his fastball over his last couple years in Oakland. Even though the Giants didn't ask him to change anything to account for that, Zito took it upon himself to redesign his delivery with the help of a pitching coach influenced by Australian cricket players.

It turned out to be a one-day disaster. Zito shelved the new delivery and went into his first Giants season with a fastball that was hovering in the low 80s. Zito was never a power pitcher, but he needed more than that.

The solution turned out to be a gradual increase in overall strength, not a new delivery. It was kick-started by the spending the winter of 2008-09 working out with Giants closer Brian Wilson, an obsessive fitness freak.

Zito also had been throwing two bullpen sessions between starts when he got to the Giants, but in the middle of 2008 he scrapped that and went to a more standard one session. That has helped him preserve arm strength for game days.

The combination of better fitness and a more streamlined between-starts routine brought Zito's fastball back.

"He looked like the old Zito," former A's teammate Jason Giambi said after watching Zito beat the Rockies last month. "His velocity was back up and he was locating his fastball. When his fastball is up there at 87-88, that makes him tough, because then you can't really sit on anything. The fastball is hard enough to throw it by you or jam you."

More arm strength also makes for a more spin on the curve, which has always been Zito's signature pitch.

"You need arm speed," Righetti said. "When he gets on that thing properly ... it's a power curveball. Not just a get-me-over. He gets swings and misses, not just takes."

A scout who has seen Zito throughout his career said that he's now throwing the curve the way he did in Oakland.

"It's the difference," the scout said. "He was throwing a curve ball that was breaking from the head to the belt, and now he's throwing his old curve ball, which breaks from the head to the ankles, and now it's a true out pitch, a swing-and-miss pitch. It's a pitch that you can't pull the trigger on."

Zito has also continued to develop a slider. He almost never threw the pitch when he was in Oakland, and it took until the middle of 2009, in Righetti's estimation, before Zito had refined the pitch to the point where he was comfortable enough to throw it in any count.



Finally, Zito talked last winter to former Cy Young winner Randy Jones, who was one of his pitching mentors growing up in San Diego. Jones told FanHouse's Tom Krasovic that he suggested to Zito that he throw more changeups, specifically away, instead of fastballs to right-handed hitters. Zito's has thrown 22.2 percent changeups this year, his highest rate since 2005. Right-handed hitters are hitting .197 against him, so he's actually handling them better than lefties, who are hitting .200 against him. In Zito's first three years with the Giants, righties hit .262 against him, compared with .229 for lefties.

Better fastball? Check.

Better curveball? Check.

Better slider? Check.

More effective use of changeup? Check.

Seems like a pretty good recipe for improved pitching, and also for a much better state of mind. Whether the new attitude came from better stuff or the better stuff came from the new attitude, there is no doubt that he's now got both.

Gone are the days when Zito would feel the pressure of that $126 million contract, or when he'd be stung by the boos of unsatisfied Giants fans. He has admitted that one of the toughest adjustments to make when he crossed the Bay was that he tried to live up to his contract, and when he failed, the frustration was only compounded.

"I think in this game and in this life, people falter when they try to be more than themselves, because they don't feel like themself is enough," Zito said after a recent start. "I tried that. I tried and I tried and I tried and it didn't work."

Zito was 11-13 with a 4.53 ERA in his first season with the Giants, and he hit his nadir when he started off the next season by going 0-8 with 6.25. Toward the end of that stretch he was briefly sent to the bullpen, the first time in his career he has missed his normal turn in the rotation.

Ever since then, he's been gradually getting better and more consistent. (In fact, a year ago Thursday FanHouse ran another story on Zito's resurgence.) Although this has been the best start of his career, including his Oakland days, it shouldn't be overlooked that he's finished strong in all of his years with the Giants, including a 2.83 ERA after the All-Star break last year.

"This has been going on for quite a while," Righetti said. "It's not just the start of this year."

Zito is confident he can keep it up, but not too confident. Just as he learned to forget about his bad starts, he's trying to forget about the good ones, too.

"I don't rely on momentum, because that's when you get complacent," he said. "I have to approach every game with the same mindset, which is to go grind hard for 120 pitches and hope for the best."re