Oakland Athletics: Barry Zito is no homecoming king
The night before the Oakland Athletics are set to honor the trio of early millennium standouts in Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, the only clear winner on Saturday in this Bay Area tromp was the San Francisco Giants.
Intriguingly enough, Zito and Hudson were the two opposing pitchers in this contest, with Mulder probably in attendance strictly for ceremonial purposes the day thereafter.
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If Father Time was present at O.co Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, at least he would have been impressed. Zito and Hudson were teammates and part of the ‘Big Three’ in the A’s rotation going all the way back to 2000-2004. Over the five seasons, those two plus Mulder accumulated a combined 232-116 record with a 3.55 ERA in the regular season. Oakland won the AL West division three times during that stretch. Zito (now 37) won a Cy Young in ’02, and Hudson, now 40, appeared on two American League All-Star squads.
Both still find themselves on the bump some decade and a half later. Mulder retired prematurely after the 2008 season with the Cardinals before what would have been his age 31 season because of shoulder problems. A failed comeback effort in 2014 with the Angels was cut short when he tore his achilles tendon on the second day of Spring Training.
Though this was a feel good matchup with Zito facing Hudson in what will likely be a farewell to arms for both pitchers in the same ballpark they both began lengthy careers in, the rust became apparent from the early go.
Previously spending almost the entire season in Triple-A did help Zito shake off some rust after stepping away from the game in 2014. But the majors are not the minors and the tenured southpaw was lifted after only two innings of work. In the top of the second inning, Zito gave up a solo home run to Jarrett Parker, a 26-year-old call-up who made his MLB debut in June for the Giants before being sent back down to Triple-A and then recalled again when rosters expanded in September.
Parker hit his second and third mozza balls on the day over the fence after Zito was lifted for Pat Venditte. But manager Bob Melvin provided Zito with some dignity by yanking him early in an ugly game that could have been a lot uglier. The A’s surrendered 14 runs in total in the loss.
Hudson hardly fared well, either. He delivered only 1.2 innings, allowing two runs while walking three and striking out none. Zito was also not able to get his once nasty curveball working, as he fanned no one despite facing 13 batters.
Zito and Hudson have both pitched for the Athletics and Giants in their careers now. Whereas Hudson has never deviated from the big leagues, Zito had to earn this promotion despite once upon a time being the games most dominant left-hander.
In 2015 for the Oakland Athletics, Barry Zito has made one relief appearance and one start. He owns an 18.00 ERA, a 3.33 WHIP and has served up two round trippers after recording only nine outs. He faced an uphill battle to begin with getting back to the show. If Zito chooses to play again in 2016, it will be interesting to see where he lands and in what capacity. Maybe, just maybe…. he could be an ace or a No. 2 at the Triple-A level again, but MLB is chock-full of hitters far more talented and selective than Jarrett Parker at the dish.