Reuniting Zito with old coach makes sense

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Rick Peterson was Barry Zito's pitching coach through the pitcher's best years in Oakland. Now that Peterson is unemployed, would it not make sense for the Giants to hire him as a special instructor to work with Zito and help right him?

There were indications Tuesday that some in the front office have reached the same conclusion and are considering Peterson, who was canned as Mets pitching coach early Tuesday morning. New York manager Willie Randolph and first-base coach Tom Nieto also were let go.

This would not be a reflection on Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti or bullpen coach Mark Gardner. Zito credits both for helping him relearn a two-seam fastball that has helped Zito pitch better since his one-start break in late April. Zito said the lowered arm slot required to throw the two-seamer has had the side benefit of tightening his curveball.

The Giants have a history of employing special instructors on the belief that a different voice sometimes can help. Joe Lefebvre acted as an assistant hitting coach when Gene Clines was hitting coach. Likewise, Willie Upshaw helped when Le- febvre was hitting coach. Furthermore, although it was not publicized at the time, the Giants had special pitching consultant Ron Perranoski work with Zito on the two-seamer during his break. Zito said Perranoski helped fortify the work he did with Righetti and Gardner.

Hiring Peterson would not guarantee Zito's return to Cy Young form, but as one baseball lifer said, "Who knows? Peterson could say the word 'boo' and maybe something would click in Zito's mind."

Zito declined to comment on the idea of hiring Peterson. In fact, Zito did not even know the Mets had fired him.

However, when asked what type of relationship they had, Zito noted that as far back as college, he and his family hired Peterson for private coaching. When the A's drafted Zito, Peterson was their pitching coach.

"I had success from the start there in Oakland," Zito said. "There's a lot to be said for your first coach in the big leagues, too. He moved me on the mound and did something also with my hands, stuff like that, stuff I still do today."

Zito, 2-10 with a 5.88 ERA, will pitch the homestand finale against Detroit today.
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