Comeback detoured: Barry Zito accepts assignment to Triple-A Nashville
Saturday was a bittersweet day for Barry Zito.
The veteran left-hander returned to the O.co Coliseum mound while sporting an Oakland A’s uniform for the first time since 2006, which qualified as the high point. But it was also only a small consolation compared to the prize he’d hoped to earn when announcing his comeback in February.
Zito not only wanted to pitch again in Oakland, he wanted to earn his spot and stay there with the organization that drafted him ninth overall in 1999 and helped develop him into one of the game’s top left-handers. He wanted to be one of their best 12 pitchers again, just like he was from 2000-2006, and he wanted to force Billy Beane and Bob Melvin to keep him around.
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Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, or at least it wasn’t meant to be right now. Following the game, Zito was reassigned to the Oakland’s Triple-A team in Nashville. That means if he hopes to pitch at O.co again this season, it will require patience and an injury or two to other A’s pitchers. But those realities won’t deter him from continuing or encourage him to consider leaving.
Zito, who hasn’t pitched in a big league game since 2013, had the right to refuse the assignment and pursue a major league job elsewhere. That thought, apparently, never even entered his mind.
“I’m gonna take it,” Zito said after the game. “Just continue to have fun pitching. That’s been my goal all along. I knew I was going to take a year off, and I was going to come back. I’ve been having a lot of fun this spring. I just want to keep doing that.”
It should be noted that Zito was mostly effective this spring despite his year long layoff. He ended up with a 4.79 ERA over 20 2/3 innings, but most of the damage came in one bad outing against the Los Angeles Angels on March 31. At one point, Zito compiled 13 consecutive scoreless innings, and on Saturday, he capped it with an impressive 13-pitch outing in front of an appreciative crowd in Oakland.
Early in his career, Zito was part of the much hyped A’s rotation that also included Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. He didn’t have to take a backseat to either though. In 2002, he was voted the AL Cy Young Award winner. He also earned his three all-star selections with the A’s as well, before signing a then record seven-year, $126 million free-agent deal with the San Francisco Giants following the 2006 season.
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Fittingly, Hudson and the Giants were on hand on Saturday. In fact, Hudson started the game for San Francisco and tossed five scoreless innings in their 2-1 victory. That gave off the feeling of two noteworthy careers that have been so closely connected and at times paralleled coming full circle together. But to suggest that would be to suggest Zito is finished, and Zito’s not ready to hear that.
“I didn’t stay in shape for a year to come back here and go all in and go sit at home,” he said. “Why should I rush to go sit at home? A lot of the retired guys that I’ve talked to that I’ve played with over the years, I think they ended up bitter that they rushed into that. A lot of them regretted that they just didn’t keep going, put your pride aside, and just go play baseball.”
Barry Zito is determined to go out on his own terms, but it will be very interesting to see how those terms play out.
By the way, in case you’re wondering what Mark Mulder was doing on Saturday.
Two of three ain’t bad (sorry, Michigan St.fans), just like two out three former A’s aces weren’t bad on the mound.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
