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Zito Career Highlights

2002 Highlights:

Was named the American League Cy Young Award winner by the Baseball Writers Association of America...is the fifth Athletic to win the award, the first since Dennis Eckersley in 1992...won the award at the age of 24 to become the youngest Cy Young Award winner since Roger Clemens in 1986, also at the age of 24...was also named American League Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News and was named as the left handed pitcher on TSN's post-season All-Star team...became the A's third different 20-game winner in the last three seasons as he won a career high 23 games...had just five losses for an .821 winning percentage which set an Oakland record...broke the mark of .818 (27-6) established by Bob Welch in 1990...is now 47-17 in his career for a .734 winning percentage...that is the best mark in major league history since 1900 among pitchers with 50 or more decisions...only Randy Johnson had more wins in the majors in 2002 (24) than Zito's 23...the wins were the fourth best single season total in Oakland history and were the most by an Athletic since Bob Welch won 27 in 1990...it was the 17th 20-win season in Oakland history and he is the ninth different 20-game winner in Oakland history (Blue, Holtzman, Hudson, Hunter, Mulder, Norris, Stewart, Welch)...his win total was the best by an A.L. left hander since Frank Viola won 24 for Minnesota in 1988 and in Oakland left handed history, only Vida Blue has more wins (24 in 1971)...now has 40 wins over the last two seasons which ties teammate Mark Mulder for the most among A.L. pitchers over that span...one of two A's All-Stars, he also had career highs in innings (229.1) and tied his career best in games started (35)...led the A.L. in games started (35) and opponents average with runners in scoring position (.185), was second in winning percentage (.821), third in ERA (2.75) and run support (6.79), tied for third in strikeouts (182), fourth in opponents batting average (.218) and pitches per start (105.4), fifth in innings pitched (229.1), pickoffs (5) and opponents slugging percentage (.340), tied for fifth in most walks (78) and tied for seventh in opponents on-base percentage (.289)...his ERA was the lowest by an A's pitcher with 162 or more innings since Dave Stewart had a 2.56 ERA in 1990...now has a 3.04 career ERA which ranks ninth on the Oakland career list...his 182 strikeouts were the eighth best single season total in Oakland history...was 13-1 with a 3.09 ERA (38 er in 110.2 ip) in his 17 starting assignments following an A's loss in 2002 and is 23-6 with a 3.42 ERA (87 er in 229.0 ip) in 36 career starting assignments following an A's loss...was 11-3 with a 3.49 ERA and .231 opponents batting average in 19 starts before the All-Star Break but then went 12-2 with a 1.92 ERA (23 er in 108.0) and .203 (78 for 385) opponents batting average in 16 starts after the break...led the A.L. in wins after the break, ranked second in ERA (Martinez, 1.61) and was third in opponents batting average (.203)...is now 30-8 with a 2.29 ERA (77 er in 303.0 ip) in 46 career starts after the break...the win total is the most in baseball over the past three years and the ERA is second best (Martinez, 1.95)...went 22-3 with a 2.39 ERA (52 er in 195.2 ip) and .210 (149 for 710) opponents batting average over his final 29 starts beginning on May 5...is 34-6 with a 2.35 ERA (83 er in 318.0 ip) and .206 (236 for 1146) opponents batting average over his last 48 regular season starts dating back to July 29, 2001...was 11-1 with a 2.56 ERA in 17 starts in Oakland and 12-4 with a 2.92 ERA in 18 starts on the road...ranked second in the A.L. in home wins and tied for second in road wins...those were the most road wins by an A's pitcher since Bob Welch had 13 in 1990...the one home loss came on August 2 against Detroit and it snapped his Oakland record 16-game home winning streak, breaking the mark of 15 set by Kenny Rogers who went 15-0 in Oakland in his two seasons with the A's from 1998-1999...posted a 2.38 ERA and allowed a .199 opponents batting average during the winning streak which lasted 24 starts from June 18, 2001 until July 18, 2002...is now 20-1 with a 2.41 ERA (53 er in 197.2 ip) and .204 (145 for 710) opponents over his last 30 starts in Oakland and is 24-6 in 43 career starts in Oakland...his opponents batting average in 2002 broke down to .275 (47 for 171) against left handers and .203 (135 for 665) against right handers...opponents were 1 for 13 (.077) with the bases loaded and he has now allowed a .132 (5 for 38) career average with the bases loaded with no grand slams...held the opponents four and five hitters to a combined .194 (36 for 186) batting average in 2002 and has a .200 (87 for 434) career mark against them...allowed a career high 24 home runs after yielding just 24 in his first two seasons...defeated every team that he faced in 2002 at least once...is 7-0 with 3.01 ERA in 11 career starts against Texas and 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in four career starts against Tampa Bay...tossed at least six innings in 30 of his 35 starts, allowed two runs or fewer 20 times and two walks or fewer 21 times...the A's were 5-2 in his no decisions and he left with the lead in five of those no decisions...the A's were 28-7 in his starting assignments and are 61-23 (.726) in his starting assignments for his career...went 1-2 with a 4.81 ERA in six starts in April, the only month he had an ERA over 3.69 and the only month where he did not win at least four games...had three no decisions in three A's victories in April and left with the lead in two of those games...then put together a career high tying nine game winning streak from May 5 to June 22...posted a 2.22 ERA and allowed a .197 opponents batting average during the streak which tied for fifth longest in Oakland history...is the first pitcher in Oakland history to have two winning streaks of nine or more games...was 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA in five May starts...tied for the A.L. lead in wins in May and ranked fifth in ERA...struck out 10 on May 11 against Toronto, his first of two games of 10 or more strikeouts in 2002...matched his career high with 11 strikeouts on June 1 at Tampa Bay, his eighth career 10-strikeout game...finished June with a 5-1 record and a 3.69 ERA in six starts...the win total tied for second in the A.L. (Mulder 6)...named to his first American League All-Star team and faced just one batter in the game, getting Shawn Green to ground out to teammate Miguel Tejada to start the sixth inning...had a season best 21.0 inning scoreless streak from July 7 to 23...went 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA in six starts in July...finished second in the A.L. in ERA in July (Martinez, 0.64) and tied for second in wins (Lopez, 6)...it was the fourth time in his career he won five games in a month (June, 2002; August, 2001; September, 2000) but it was the first time he has gone 5-0...is now 8-1 with a 2.92 ERA (28 er in 86.1 ip) in 14 career starts in July...had his only losing streak of the season when he lost consecutive starts on August 2 and 8 and then finished the season with an eight game winning streak, posting a 2.04 ERA (15 er in 66.1 ip) and .202 (48 for 238) opponents batting average over his final 10 starts...was 4-2 with a 2.16 ERA in six August starts and tossed his lone complete game of the season...took the loss in that outing, a seven-hitter in the A's 4-2 loss on August 8 at Boston...recorded his 20th win on September 8 at Minnesota, the fifth earliest date an Oakland pitcher has won 20, the earliest since Bob Welch on August 17, 1990...ended up going 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA in September and is now 13-1 with a 1.84 ERA (22 er in 107.1 ip) in 16 career starts in September...won his only playoff start, Game 3 of the ALDS at Minnesota, a 6-3 A's win (6.0 ip, 5 h, 3 r, 3 er, 4 bb, 8 so).

2001 Season

Started slowly in 2001 but dominated American League hitters over the final two months of the season...was 6-7 with a 5.01 ERA in 22 starts through July 24...then went 11-1 with a 1.32 ERA (88.2 ip, 54 h, 16 r, 13 er, 35 bb, 83 so) and .174 (54 for 310) opponents batting average over his final 13 starts, including a career high nine-game winning streak to finish the regular season (9 er in 59.0 ip, 1.37 ERA)...the winning streak is tied for sixth longest in Oakland history and was the fourth longest winning streak in the A.L. in 2001...then lost his only ALDS start against New York although he allowed just one run on two hits in eight innings (1 bb, 6 so) in the A's 1-0 loss in Game 3...finished the season 17-8 with a 3.49 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 35 starts...became just the fourth pitcher in Oakland history to strikeout 200 in season, the second left hander...Vida Blue set the record with 301 in 1971 and Zito tied Dave Stewart (1987) and Todd Stottlemyre (1995) for second best...is one of five left handed pitchers in Athletics history with 200 strikeouts (Rube Waddell, Eddie Plank, Lefty Grove and Blue)...finished fourth in the A.L. in strikeouts...tied teammate Tim Hudson for the A.L. lead in games started, tied for third in opponents batting average (.230), tied for fourth in shutouts (2), tied for sixth in wins, was eighth in ERA, tied for ninth in complete games (3) and 10th in winning percentage (.680)...tied for fifth with an Oakland record 13 hit batters, breaking the mark of 11 set by Bob Welch in 1991...those were the most hit batters by an A's pitcher since Harry Byrd hit 14 in 1953...also ranked second in opponents slugging (.345), fourth in average by right handers (.229), sixth in opponents on-base percentage leading off an inning (.281), seventh in fewest home runs per nine innings (0.76) and 10th in strikeout to walk ratio (2.56)...went 9-0 with a 2.21 ERA (21 er in 85.1 ip) over his last 13 starts in Oakland after starting the year 0-3 with a 8.54 ERA (25 er in 26.1 ip) in his first five starts at home...had a 28.1 inning scoreless streak at the Coliseum from July 29 to August 25 and he posted a 0.94 ERA (6 er in 57.1 ip) over his final eight starts in Oakland...opponents were 1 for 14 (.071) with the bases loaded and are 4 for 25 (.160) with the bases full in his career...held opposing number one hitters to a .163 (17 for 104) batting average and number three hitters to a .185 (17 for 92) mark but two hitters batted .327 (32 for 98)...tossed six or more innings in 26 of his 35 starts, allowed three runs or fewer 25 times, walked two batters or fewer 24 times and struck out seven or more 14 times...then A's were 8-2 in his no decisions in 2001 and 25-10 in his starting assignments...tossed seven shutout innings in his first start on April 3 at Seattle and had a no-hitter until allowing a two-out single to Cameron in the sixth...allowed a career high eight runs on April 14 against Texas but was 3-1 with a 5.17 ERA over his first five starts...then had a career high five-game losing streak over an eight start stretch from April 29 to June 7 (27 er in 43.0 ip, 5.65 ERA)...finished April 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 37.1 innings...the strikeouts were the most by an A's pitcher in one month since Dave Stewart struck out 45 in September of 1988...tossed 4.0 innings in a loss on May 5 against Boston, the first time he had not tossed at least 5.0 innings in his career...then tossed 3.0 innings in his next start on May 10 at Toronto...snapped his losing streak on June 18 against Seattle and put together a three-game winning streak over his final five starts before the All-Star Break...tossed just 2.0 innings on July 24 against Minnesota, the shortest outing of his career...allowed one hit in consecutive starts on July 29 against Kansas City (6.1 ip) and August 4 at Detroit (8.0 ip)...then tossed his first complete game of the season, a four-hit shutout in the A's 6-0 win over Boston on August 9...did not allow a runner past first base...retired 23 consecutive batters from August 4 to 9, the longest such streak by an Athletic in 2001...started his season ending nine-game winning streak with a four-hit shutout in the A's 9-0 win over Cleveland on August 20...struck out a career high 11 against the Indians, one of five 10 strikeout games in 2001 and six in his career...tossed his third complete game of the season on September 10, a four-hitter in the A's 7-1 win over Texas...went 5-1 with a 1.02 ERA and .163 opponents batting average in six starts in August and 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA and .168 opponents batting average in four starts in September and was named American League Pitcher of the Month in both months...led the A.L. in ERA and opponents batting average and tied for the lead in wins in August...led the A.L. in ERA in September and tied for the lead in wins...the 1.02 August ERA was the lowest one month ERA by an A's pitcher with at least 20 innings since Steve Ontiveros had a 0.38 ERA in June of 1994...it was the lowest by an A.L. pitcher since Pedro Martinez had a 0.86 ERA in May of 2000...went 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA in six starts against Texas and is now 5-0 with a 3.52 ERA in seven career starts against the Rangers, equaling his most wins against any club...did not allow an earned run in two starts against Kansas City (13.0 ip) but had a no decision in each start.

2000 Season

Was the A's number one draft pick in 1999 and made his major league debut a little over a year later ... made 14 starts for the A's and was 7-4 with a 2.72 ERA ... the ERA was the lowest among Major League rookies with 30 or more innings pitched and the best in Oakland history by a rookie with 75 or more innings pitched ... was one of three American League Rookies to toss a shutout ... also ranked tied for third among A ... L ... rookies in strikeouts (78), tied for fourth in wins and sixth in innings pitched (92.2) ... limited opponents to a .195 (64 for 328) batting average, including .192 (14 for 73) with runners in scoring position ... average broke down to .194 (14 for 72) with no home runs off left handers and .195 (50 for 256) with six home runs off right handers ... received incredible run support in his wins as the A's scored 78 runs while he was pitching in his seven wins (45.2 ip, 15.4 per nine innings) ... did not need the support most of the time as he posted a 1.77 ERA (9 er in 45.2 ip) in his wins ... the A's scored just 10 runs in his four losses and three no decisions (47.0 ip, 1.9 runs per nine innings) and he posted a 3.64 ERA (19 er in 47.0 ip) in those seven starts ... A's scored just two runs while he was pitching in his four losses and were shutout twice ... selected from Triple-A Sacramento on July 22 and made his major league debut that day against Anaheim ... became the 28th pitcher in Oakland history to start in his major league debut, the third this year ... became the eighth to win ... walked the first batter he faced (Erstad) but later picked him off ... allowed a RBI single to Clemente in the second but that was the only run he would allow in his five innings ... the Angels loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth but he struck out Vaughn, Salmon and Anderson to end the inning ... then tossed at least six innings in each of his remaining 13 starts ... had a no decision in each of his next three starts but left with the lead in two of those ... then lost consecutive starts on August 13 and 19 against Detroit ... allowed five runs on the 13th in Oakland and four runs on the 19th at Comerica Park, the only two times he allowed more than three runs in a start this year ... snapped the losing streak on August 24 at Cleveland but then took the loss on August 29 against Chicago when Baldwin, Buehrle and Foulke combined to shutout the A's on five hits, 3-0 ... then went 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA (41.2 ip, 26 h, 8 r, 8 er, 18 bb, 37 so, 2 hr) in six September starts ... had the second best ERA in the American League in September to teammate Tim Hudson ... began the month by tossing 6.2 shutout innings in a 10-0 win at Toronto on September 4 ... then tossed his first career complete game and shutout in his next start on September 10 against Tampa Bay, a five-hitter in the A's 11-0 win ... did not walk a batter and struck out eight ... was named American League Co-Player of the Week with the White Sox Carlos Lee for the week of September 4-10, going 2-0 without allowing a run in 15.2 innings ... defeated the Devil Rays in his next start on September 15 and extended his scoreless streak to 23.2 innings before Flaherty hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning ... it was the longest scoreless streak by an A's pitcher since Rick Honeycutt tossed 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings, June 25 to September 14, 1995 ... had his winning streak snapped in the day game of the day-night doubleheader at Baltimore on September 20 as the A's were shutout 2-0 ... then won his final two starts, striking out a career high 10 on September 25 against Anaheim ... it was the eighth 10-strikeout game by a rookie in Oakland history ... was 8-5 with a 3.19 ERA in 18 starts at Triple-A Sacramento before he was called up ... led the team with 91 strikeouts and tied for the team lead in wins and start ... went 2-0 over his last three starts with the River Cats without allowing a run (16.1 ip) ... allowed just one run over his final five starts (29.1 ip, 20 h, 1 r, 1 er, 7 bb, 33 so, 1 hr, 0.31 ERA) and held the opposition to a .190 (20 for 105) batting average over that span ... held the opposition to a .230 (88 for 382) average for the season which broke down to .222 (12 for 54) against left handers and .232 (76 for 328) against right handers ... did not allow a home run over his first 10 starts (56.0 ip) and allowed just four home runs for the season or one per 25.4 innings ... allowed three runs or fewer 14 times and had six outings where he did not allow a run ... including May 7 at Fresno when he tossed six inning of no-hit ball ... removed after throwing 95 pitches and combined with Tim Kubinski and Scott Service on a one-hit, 6-0 shutout ... was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 1-7, winning both of his starts and allowing just five hits and an unearned run while walking six and fanning 12 in 12.0 innings.

1999 Season

Was the A's first round draft pick and signed on June 12...ended up pitching for three different teams int he A's farm system...made his professional debut at Visalia on July 2, was promoted to Midland on August 13 and was later sent to vancouver on September 4 following the conclusion of the Rockhounds season...was a combined 6-1 with a 3.16 ERA in 13 games, all starts...struck out 97 and walked 35 in 68.1 innings ...allowed a .198 (48 for 243) opponents batting average...picked up his first professional win on July 27 at High Desert...earned California League Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of July 26-August 1...struck out 10 on August 1 against Stockton and August 11 at San Jose...had a 2.45 ERA in eight starts at Visalia when he was promoted to Midland...struck out 10 and did not walk a batter in 5.2 innings in his Midland debut on August 16 against Wichita...transferred to Vancouver when the Rockhounds regular season ended and he made one regular season start on September 6 at Colorado Springs...allowed one run in 6.0 innings and picked up the win...then went 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA (4 er in 15.0 ip) in three games, two starts, in the post-season as the Canadians won the PCL Championship and the AAA World Series.