Barry Zito is getting close to returning for the Giants.
And while that might make many a Giant fan rejoice (or, maybe Zito's parents at least), it won't mean that Ryan Vogelsong is going to get the boot from the pitching rotation.
In fact, it's quite the opposite; Bruce Bochy said following the Giants 2-1 win over the Rockies on Sunday -- which featured Vogelsong throwing eight innings of four-hit ball -- that Vogelsong is here to stay.
"Obviously, Vogu is not going anywhere," Bochy said after Sunday's game, per Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Bochy didn't, however, rule out the possibility of Zito joining the rotation as well when discussing how he was going to handle what has somehow become an even stouter pitching rotation.
"We're going have to get creative when Zeets returns," Bochy said. "Brian [Sabean] and I have already started talking about it."
While that probably wasn't a pleasant conversation -- "Hey, boss, should we pay Zito $18 million to be a long reliever? Or just let him start in Fresno?" -- it would have been pretty fun to be a fly on the wall.
Sports
In all seriousness, though, the Giants have a bit of an issue on their hands: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner certainly aren't in danger of losing their rotation spots, and Bochy would be a fool to replace Vogelsong with Zito at this point.
Vogelsong's started 10 games, going 4-1 in those starts and registering a 1.68 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 53 innings.
After his first good outing, his performance certainly looked like a surprising aberration. After seven consecutive starts without allowing more than an earned run, it's hard to claim he just got lucky.
Which is precisely why he'll be hanging around and Zito might become the most expensive long reliever in the history of professional baseball.
