Senators' newest arrivals bring strong upside
Sunday, August 13, 2006
BY GEOFF MORROW



Garrett Mock's first impression with the Harrisburg Senators went over like a
mustache on the Mona Lisa.

Matt Chico's wasn't quite that bad, but the left-hander was anything but
sensational in his first start for the Senators.

And Zechry Zinicola suffered a serious burn after getting tossed into the
fire in his first Double-A appearance.

But Mock, Chico and Zinicola -- the three newest members of the Harrisburg
Senators' pitching staff -- represent a bright future, both in the long term
as members of the Washington Nationals and in the short term with the
Nationals' Class AA Eastern League affiliate.

All three are interesting young men with unique stories and an abundance of
major league potential. So what if their first games with Harrisburg didn't
go as planned?

Take Chico, for example, who allowed nine hits in five innings Wednesday.

The hard-throwing lefty, acquired with Mock from Arizona in the Livan
Hernandez trade last week, was pitching semipro baseball when the
Diamondbacks drafted him in 2003.

The laid-back San Diego native, who enjoys surfing and hanging out on the
beach during the offseason, was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox out
of high school.

Some sources say he turned down a $700,000 offer by the Sox, but Chico says
he received an initial offer, well below what he expected, and Boston pulled
everything off the table when he turned it down.

So instead he attended Southern California, from where the self-described
"bad student" eventually failed out.

"In my mind, at the time, I thought I was done," he said of chasing his dream
of playing professional baseball.

But a scout helped him join a semipro team in his hometown, and he was
drafted again by the Diamondbacks in 2003.

"The whole experience -- and this might sound weird -- but it was the best
thing that could've happened to me. I matured in life and as a baseball
player."

His teammate and good friend, Mock, took a less hectic path to the pros. A
Texas native, he attended the University of Houston before getting drafted in
2004.

But the tall right-hander, labeled as the Diamondbacks' No. 7 prospect before
the season, struggled this year.

He was just 4-8 at Class AA Tennessee before the trade, and he didn't survive
the first inning in his Senators' debut Thursday, allowing five runs on six
hits in two-thirds of an inning.

"It's just location," Mock said, pinpointing the problem. "When I don't
locate, teams know I'm a fastball pitcher, and they can sit on it and tattoo
it."

Mock's other hobbies -- hunting, fishing, cooking -- fit his Texas
background.

"I just do steaks," he said of his time in an apron. "None of that Betty
Crocker stuff."

As for Zinicola, whose debut with Harrisburg came in a tie game Wednesday
night with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, he's
been called a free spirit.

"I take it as a compliment," he said. "It means I'm easy-going and get along
with anybody."

The Nationals drafted Zinicola, a right-handed reliever, in the sixth round
this year out of Arizona State before he zoomed his way to Harrisburg.
Successful stints at short-season Vermont and Class A Potomac preceded his
promotion to Double-A.

Then he takes the mound against former Arizona State standout Jeremy West,
who greeted Zinicola with a walk-off single.

"Welcome to Double-A, huh?" the Californian said.

So while it hasn't been the easiest transition for this trio, manager John
Stearns expects good things.

"The thing is, when you make changes like that, especially with pitchers, it
sometimes takes 30 games to settle in," he said. "But overall the addition of
these three pitchers makes us that much stronger."