Barry Zito

Who is Barry Zito?

Barry William Zito is an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who is currently a free agent. He stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 205 pounds. He previously played for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. He bats and throws left-handed. His pitching repertoire consists of a curveball, a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a circle changeup, and a cutter-slider.

Zito was drafted three times during college and attended three colleges: UC Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Pierce College, and the University of Southern California. When he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round in 1999, he chose to sign. A year later, he was in the major leagues, finishing fifth in American League Rookie of the Year Award. He struggled to begin the 2001 season but improved greatly down the stretch, finishing the year 11–1 over his final two months. He won 23 games in 2002 and won the Cy Young Award. His record was only 14–12 in 2003, but he still made the All-Star team for the second year in a row. In 2004, he had his worst season at the time, going 11–11 with a career-high 4.48 earned run average. He became Oakland's Opening Day starter in 2005 and finished fifth in the AL with 171 strikeouts. In 2006, he made the All-Star team and posted a 15–1 record when receiving two or more runs of support.