One is 6’4″ and 205.  The other is 6’7″ and 250.  One is Caucasian.  One is African-American.  One plays in the National League.  One plays in the American League.  One didn’t make it to the playoffs last year.  One made it to his league’s Championship Series.  However, there is one thing that unites Barry Zito and C.C. Sabathia so far to this point in the season.  They both have not recorded a win.  This is pretty amazing considering the talent that both pitchers have shown during their careers.

Barry Zito compiled a record of 112-73 in his 7 years with the Oakland A’s, led by an astonishing 23-5 mark with an almost unheard of 2.75 ERA in the homer happy American League.  After the 2006 season, Zito signed with the San Francisco Giants.  Logically, the National League is supposed to be an easier league for pitchers.  The ability to face the opposing pitcher once every 9 batters assures any hurler of an almost automatic out every time through the order.  There is also no designated hitter in the National League, so there are usually less power threats to worry about as an NL pitcher.  Zito, however, has not found this to be true.  After last night’s 4-1 loss to the Diamondbacks, the San Francisco lefty’s record as a Giant has dropped to 11-17.  His ERA last season was 4.53, which was the highest of his career.  That is pretty remarkable, considering his whole career had been in the American League prior to that point.  After his 4 starts so far this season, Zito has a 4.50 ERA, and an unfriendly 1.682 WHIP (Walks plus hits divided by innings pitched).  In other words, he is letting too many runners on base, and if his WHIP stays where it is, it becomes more and more unlikely that his ERA will trend down during the season.

Sabathia’s case is very different.  C.C. has been very good the last couple of years, culminated with the AL Cy Young in 2007.  In his 7 years in Cleveland, C.C. has posted a record of 100-63.  However, a turning point may have come last year in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox.  In two starts, he only lasted a combined 10.1 innings, surrendering 12 runs, all earned.  The Indians would go on to lose both games, critical losses in a 7 game series won by the Red Sox.  Those two losses seem to have taken a heavy toll on Sabathia, however.  After last night’s 4 inning performance where he allowed 9 earned runs, Sabathia’s record has dropped to 0-3 and his ERA has ballooned to 13.50.  His WHIP is a miserable 2.556, nearly double what his previous career high had been.  For C.C., there is also the pressure of not knowing where he will play next year.  His contract expires at the end of the season, and the Indians have made no apparent effort to sign him, even as they locked up fellow hurler Fausto Carmona in a multi year deal.  If Sabathia wants a big money contract at the end of the season, he will need to turn things around quickly.

Both players are more than capable of turning their seasons around.  Zito may have more difficulty, as word is he has lost quite a bit of velocity on his fastball the last couple of seasons.  In Sabathia’s case, however, expect different outcomes from his starts soon.  He is too good of a pitcher to fail so miserably, as his track record clearly indicates.  It is well known around baseball that the Giants do not have what it takes to contend for anything meaningful this year, but the Indians do, and they will need Sabathia to step up if they still have World Series aspirations.

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