Get Well Soon, Barry Zito

There's a first time for everything, right?

Barry Zito has landed on the 15-day disabled for the very first time in his 12-year career. The San Francisco Giants lefty made history after spraining his right foot attempting to field a bunt during Saturday night's 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Zito, like a cat except not at all, dove to catch a pop bunt in front of the mound by Joe Saunders in the second inning. He totally caught the ball, but was immediately met on the hill by the team's athletic trainer. The 32-year-old tossed one warmup pitch and promptly walked off the field.

X-rays on his foot were negative, but Zito and his swollen ankle left the clubhouse on crutches anyway. He underwent an MRI exam on Sunday, confirming the sprain.

Unfortunately, Zito’s streak of 356 regular-season starts without missing a turn due to injury will end this Friday when he does not take the mound for his scheduled start against the Atlanta Braves in San Francisco.

Get well soon, Barry! We were just starting to get used to that mustache.

[San Francisco Chronicle]

I Hate You, Barry Zito

Dear Barry Zito,

I thought you were a douche before you ruined my day today, but wow. I believe my detest can be summed up entirely by the above photo of you and your guitar, but I'll elaborate.

Barry Zito: Watch Out World!

Barry Zito has earned his second win of the season. Alert the media, stop the presses, grab a beverage and let's celebrate.

[Bleacher Report]

Zito No Longer a Complete Loser

Making his 10th start of the season, San Francisco Giants lefty Barry Zito "improved" to 1-8 with an 8-2 win over the Florida Marlins Friday.

After allowing one run on three hits over 6.1 innings, fanning five and walking four, the former ace earned his first victory since September 30, 2007.

"That’s why we’re here for, to band together and win games together," he said. "You can’t win games on your own as a pitcher, and you can’t win games on your own as a hitter."

You got that right, buddy. Barry needs all the run support he can get. Preferably more than 6 runs per game to combat his handy 5.65 ERA.

You know, if things don't work out in San Fran for Barry, Brian Sabean could always pull one of these.

[San Francisco Chronicle]

There's That Sucking Sound Again

This is the only face Barry Zito makes these days. A sad one. You know, it's not even a good time to poke fun at the guy anymore.

Ok, it still is.

Really, his season line speaks for itself: 0-8, 6.25 ERA, 22 K, 24 BB and a 1.90 WHIP.

But there's an upside to everything. At least he's made history! Zito is the first San Francisco Giants pitcher to fall to 0-8 kicking off the season since Jesse Burkett in 1890.

It's taken 118 years for someone to suck that bad. Way to go, buddy!

[FOX Sports]

Voodoo Sabermetrics: Barry Zito

Welcome to our third edition of Voodoo Sabermetrics. This week's subject is struggling San Francisco Giants pitcher, Barry Zito. Let's see how many times we mention the words "Alyssa Milano" and "hippie."

How do you feel when you hear his name? Do you laugh? Do you cry? Do you care at all? Oakland Athletics Fans remember a time when Zito wasn't just another hippie with an 80-mph fastball. He was a scary, left-handed strikeout machine who would mow down batters faster than a fat kid at the Old Country Buffet.

So what happened? Has he not been combing his zen garden properly? It's a medical mystery, and we're here to solve it.

Sooze, Babes Love Baseball

Jolliness - Barry Zito was once a very happy man. He had talent, a snappy tie and slacks, a spankin' new $126 million contract with a spankin' new team, a Cy Young, and even Samantha Micelli once... he had it all.

Then one day, an unidentified flying object swooped down from outerspace and kidnapped the lefty ace and performed all kinds of weird tests on him.

He hasn't been the same since. Barry Zito gets a sad, sad Emo Kid wearing a stupid t-shirt on the jollity scale. Not very jolly at all.

What is That Sucking Sound?

Oh, it's just the San Francisco Giants and their leader, Barry Zito.

Falling to 0-7 with a 6.95 ERA on the season, despite a solid start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, Zito seems to have shown some improvement. However, he still couldn't manage to beat Phil Dumatrait, who was recently claimed off waivers and hadn't earned a win in seventeen previous career appearances.

At least Phil is pretty pumped.

Zito's line of five innings, three hits, two runs, two walks and five strikeouts was his most impressive of the season thus far, as his last time out he allowed eight runs on seven hits over just three innings. Xavier Nady spoiled the former ace's return to the rotation with a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw.

Another sad Barry... I feel kinda bad for the guy.

[Beaver County]

Barry Zito Returns Without Relief

Don't mind if we give ourselves a little pat on the back for getting Barry Zito back into the rotation with our Slump Buster suggestions.

Okay, so chances are our post had nothing to do with San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy's decision to return Zito to the rotation, without even making one relief appearance, for Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The fact is, if Zito (with a little run support) can't beat the Buccs? He has some major kinks to work out.

[AP]

Have an Ice-Cold Slump Buster

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Remember When Barry Zito Was Awesome?

It's been a while, but there was indeed a time when Barry Zito was awesome at pitching.

The struggling left-hander was demoted to the relief corps Monday by the San Francisco Giants, who have high hopes that their former ace can get his crap together in the bullpen.

The three-time All-Star and 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner with the Oakland Athletics lost every one of his first six starts of this season, seeing his ERA sky-rocket to 7.53 after he was roughed-up for eight earned runs over just three innings of his team's 10-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

It's been almost a year-and-a-half since he signed a record $126 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco... and let this be a lesson to clubs everywhere whose hurlers want extended contracts with a ridiculous amount of zeroes attached to them.

The Giants plans to use Pat Misch against the Philadelphia Phillies in pace of Zito this Saturday, after recalling the lefty from the AAA Fresno Grizzlies when starter Kevin Correia was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

[Bay City Ball]

Brandon Webb Dominates, Barry Zito Suffers

Brandon Webb pitched yet another gem Wednesday, kicking his season off at 4-0 for the first time in his career.

The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1, with Webb not only throwing 62 pitches over the first six innings, and putting his team ahead in the second with a base hit. Through eight innings pitched, he allowed just one run on three hits, walking two and striking out five. His ERA on the season? 1.86.

Yep, pretty awesome.

On the other side of the baseball, Barry Zito (4.50 ERA) has lost his first four starts, a career worst. Over six innings, the over-paid lefty surrendered four runs -- 3 earned -- on five hits, fanning two and walking five: alarming numbers.

Zito would love for you to explain the word "consistency" to him. It's a tough one to grasp.


[San Francisco Chronicle]

Saturday's Babelicious Scoreboard

We haven't really mentioned The Barrys around here for a while, so a Giants recap was in order.

Barry Zito put together his second straight scoreless outing to earn his first win at home with the San Francisco Giants, leading the club to a 1-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday afternoon while Barry Bonds hit his 739th career home run, moving within 17 longballs of Hank Aaron's 755. We will do our best not to mention that again if and until he ends his quest for The Record.

Zito (2-2, 3.70 ERA) strung together 7.1 scoreless innings of baseball, giving up only 4 hits and striking out five batters, but walked three.

Opposing pitcher Edgar Gonzalez (1-1, 5.40 ERA) threw seven solid innings, but was handed the loss after his team failed to score any runs against the former Cy Young Award winner. Gonzalez allowed only five hits and struck out seven, the lone run coming on, of course, Barry's solo shot to deep center in the second inning.

[MLB]

Bruce Bochy Makes Debut Against Former Club

For the 13th straight year, manager Bruce Bochy will be in the dugout when the San Diego Padres open their season. Only this time, he'll be on the opposing bench along with Barry Bonds, who has been a thorn in his side over the past 12 years.

Bochy will make his managerial debut with Bonds and the San Francisco Giants today, kicking off a three-game series against the NL West rival Padres.

Despite gnawing allegations of steroid use, Bonds begins the season with 734 career homers, needing just 22 to break Hank Aaron's big league record. He has hit 85 bombs in his career versus the Padres - 22 more than against any other opponent.

Bonds won't be the only Barry attracting mass amount of attention for the Giants, as they send expensive offseason pickup Barry Zito to the mound for the opener. The 28-year-old lefty, who went 102-63 with a 3.55 ERA in seven seasons with Oakland and won the 2002 AL Cy Young award, hopped across the bay after signing a $126 million, seven-year contract with the Giants in January.

The Giants took 12 of 19 meetings in last season's series with the Pads, including five of nine in San Francisco.

The Padres enter this season with one of the NL's most impressive pitching staffs, including 25-year-old righty Jake Peavy, who leads Chris Young, future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux and 21-year veteran left-hander David Wells in the rotation.

Peavy, who gets the ball today, led the majors with a 2.27 ERA in 2004, and had an NL-high 216 strikeouts in 2005, but crapped-out with an 11-14 record and 4.09 ERA last season as he struggled with shoulder tendinitis.

The Padres will play without Mike Piazza, who departed for Oakland via free agency. Former backup catcher Josh Bard, who batted .338 in 93 games with San Diego last season, will take over the starting duties at catcher.

Veteran outfielder Brian Giles returns to anchor the lineup in his fourth full season with the Padres, hoping to rebound from a 2006 season where he hit .263 with 14 homers - both career lows.

[MLB]

Barry Zito is a Lush?

Remember five years ago? Me neither. I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast. However, I bet we all remember when the 2002 All-Star game ended early for no apparent reason.

From baseball genius Peter Gammons...

San Francisco Giants Idol Returns

Sunday morning, Scottsdale Stadium was filled with the music of Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams Jr. and... Will Ferrell?

The Giants again staged "Giants Idol," the two-day "American Idol" takeoff that features mostly rookies, benefits charity and helps the club get to know each other through light-hearted humiliation hilarity. Last year's inaugural event raised $6,000 for a local charity and proved to be a hit among players, who apparently valued the bonding.

Blah Blah Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds entered Giants camp today sans entourage, who are not welcome due to the untrustworthiness of his trainers.

He also called out the federal government to "come get him" for perjury and tax evasion.

Bonds then slipped back into the tunnel toward the clubhouse, only to emerge with his new buddy, San Francisco's newly acquired ace, Barry Zito.

Newly clothed, the Barrys turned around – making sure to strike a pose for the cameras – and showed their new shirts, which said: DON'T ASK ME... ASK BARRY with an arrow pointing towards each other. Clever.

[San Francisco Giants]