Across the Seams

Never Mind

So Zito was just experimenting. The new motion was a work in progress, not the final product. That's the spin now, after he had a chat with Dave Righetti. It may have been his intention all along, just that it never got communicated to anyone. I will now go back to fretting about the rest of the Giants' problems.

Barry Crazy

If I'm a member of the Giants front office this morning, I'm calling lawyers.

Barry Zito, all $126 million of him, has arrived for spring training with a revamped delivery that sounds Bugs Bunny to me:

He stood in a slight crouch on the rubber with his feet at shoulder-width, bounced twice, then stepped so far backward that he was almost squatting by the time he began to transfer his weight and stride toward the plate. (Baggarly)

I'd like to see exactly what this delivery looks like, but I've not found any video. Guess I get to create all sorts of scary-looking things in my head instead. Anything I imagine can't be far off, though, as I've seen at least two reports that Bochy and Righetti are afraid that he might fall off the back of the mound with the delivery.

Yes. He could fall off the mound.

I think a case could be made that this is not the pitcher the Giants paid $126 million for, though I'm not exactly sure what the heck the team can do about it. Let it play out, I guess. Should I hope for Zito to get hammered in his first spring outings now?