Barry Zito On Base Machine

Just the cutest!

We interrupt this pennant race to bring you this special important information. About Barry Zito’s hitting ability.

Something about the Dodgers should probably go here, but that can wait because Barry Zito is quietly having one of the weirdest seasons with the bat you will ever see. Maybe not ever, but when you use hyperbole like that it makes writing easier and that's what I'm here for!

The Giants have plenty of capable hitting pitchers. By capable I mean they don’t hit like a one legged Emmanuel Burris. The one’s that come to mind: Matt Cain, who has 6 career home runs, and Madison Bumgarner, who can do this. One who does not come to mind: Barry Zito. And he shouldn’t! He has 3 hits this season, good enough for a whopping .073 average. That’s like a no legged Emmanuel Burris with his hair on fire. This is what Barry Zito looks like when he swings a baseball bat (via Bay City Ball) :

A powerful stroke. And the Giants paid him 126 million dollars. Unbelieveable.

Barry Zito is the last pitcher you would expect to be an adequate hitter. You expect him to be your typical American turned National League pitcher that hadn’t taken batting practice since prom. 

However, Barry Zito is quietly holding up as one of the best most consistent hitting pitchers in the majors. Not his average, which has been horrendous. It’s been his ability to work the count and force a pitcher to throw lots and lots of pitches. His on base percentage is .191, nearly a 120 point difference in batting average and OBP. That doesn’t begin to tell the whole story though.

Zito has the 5^th highest walk rate on the Giants. Buster Posey is 4^th, with a 11.5 BB%. Barry Zito has a 10.7 BB%. He walks at third highest rate among starting pitchers. Not only does he take walks, but he doesn’t go Adam Dunn on the situation and strikeout every other at bat. He actually does it very few times. He has the 7^th lowest K% on the Giants, better than Buster Posey. That’s also second lowest among all starting pitchers in baseball, behind R.A. Dickey. 

He walks a lot and doesn't strike out. The reason? Well, I’ve crunched the numbers and determined you need to make contact with the baseball in order to not strike out. More information to come. But this is the most fascinating aspect of Barry Zito’s hitting. His contact rate sits at 89.7%. That’s the best among starting pitchers in baseball. That probably does not impress you because I’m comparing his numbers to starting pitchers who are starting pitchers.

This will impress you. Zito has the 2^nd best contact rate on the Giants, only behind Marco Scutaro who, as noted by Jeff Sullivan, just swung and made contact with the last comma. His rate is better than noted contact and professional hitter Ryan Theriot. That’s nearly 5% better than Buster Posey. That would be 14^th best amongst all qualified hitters. Barry Zito makes contact, and while he has trouble hitting the ball past home plate, he puts the ball in play. Not only that, but he works the count and makes the opposing pitcher work. Consistently. I'm talking about Barry Zito. The real Barry Zito.

Of course, all of this data has to be taken with a grain of salt. Zito has only 57 plate appearences on the season. Aubrey Huff has 78 plate appearances. But I mean, c'mon. The dude is a pitcher. He swings the bat like the baseball is a bomb that struck too hard will explode. He stands in the batters box like he's mooning the opposing dugout. However, Barry Zito at nothing else puts the bat on the ball. Hunter Pence take notes.