The Oakland Athletics have announced that they have reassigned left-handed pitcher Barry Zito to the minor leagues. Zito has accepted his assignment and will report to the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate at Nashville.
The 36-year-old was looking to make his comeback attempt with the team that drafted him ninth overall back in 1999, who he won a Cy Young award with back in 2002 and played for all the way up until before the 2007 season, when he signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants.
Zito pitched his last game this spring with the Athletics’ big league squad against the Giants in an exhibition game on Saturday, where he tossed a perfect sixth inning, before being assigned to minor league camp. He was sent off in a standing ovation all around the stadium.
This spring, Zito compiled a 1-0 record, along with a 4.79 ERA, fourteen strikeouts and one save, in 20 and 2/3 innings pitched over seven games (two starts). In his last season pitched back in 2013 for the Giants, he pitched to a 5-11 record, along with a 5.74 ERA, in 133 and 1/3 innings pitched over 30 games (25 starts).
Over his fourteen-year major-league career with the Athletics and the Giants, Zito has a career 165-143 record, along with a 4.02 ERA. His best season came back in 2002, the year where he won the American League Cy Young award. In 2002 with Oakland, he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA in 229 and 1/3 innings pitched over 35 starts.
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