Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 12, 2008
The Zito Delivery

Here's another reason spring training stats are tough to take seriously. Dave Righetti points out the positives in Barry Zito's last outing:

He could be criticized for experimenting at this stage of his career. On the other hand, baseball is about adjustments. Zito has lost speed off his fastball, making command that much more important. He believes that by shortening his windup and not bringing his hands over his head, he can spot his pitches better.

Pitching coach Dave Righetti liked what he saw Monday, even if Zito allowed eight runs (five earned) in 32/3 innings.

"I thought he looked good," Righetti said Tuesday. "I liked the plane of his ball. I thought he was fine, especially in the windup. Unfortunately, he had to pitch in the stretch a bunch.

"He just felt like it was cleaner, like it was easier for his rhythm. He's got all the movement in his hands that's making him a little bit late in terms of delivering the pitch that he wanted, and I agree, so he went out yesterday and worked on it for the first time."

So Zito was experimenting, and it's possible the experiment turns out well. He's making the adjustment pitchers his age need to make, a little less power and a little more control.

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:22 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?