Barry Zito doing well in minors, but would love major upgrade

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Suddenly, after nearly four months at Triple-A Nashville, Barry Zito is a realistic option for the A’s should they trade Scott Kazmir in the next week or two — and if that happens, Zito can return to the plush life.

Zito, a Cy Young winner and two-time World Series champion, is enthusiastic about his time with Oakland’s top affiliate, but he’s also finding Triple-A life humbling. He is the most high-profile former major-leaguer playing in the minors, yet that doesn’t go far.

In May, on his 37th birthday, Zito offered to take his teammates out to dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, and they all took the man who’d once inked a $126 million contract up on it.

“There were literally 25 guys and two DL guys in the lobby,” Zito said by phone. “The kicker was, we’re at this restaurant and the bartender raised her glass and said, ‘Hey, everyone, we have a birthday boy in the house. Let’s give it up for Larry from the Nashville Sounds!’

“And everyone was like, ‘Larry! Larry! Happy birthday, Larry!’”

A's starter Kendall Graveman credits the time spent at the side of Cy Young winner Barry Zito, above, in Triple A Nashville as one of the reasons his season has turned around so dramatically. A's starter Kendall Graveman credits the time spent at the side of Cy Young winner Barry Zito, above, in Triple A Nashville as one of the reasons his season has turned around so dramatically. Photo: Michael Strasinger, Nashville Sounds Photo: Michael Strasinger, Nashville Sounds Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Barry Zito doing well in minors, but would love major upgrade 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

The travel can be brutal. On the Sounds’ first road trip, the team was diverted en route from Colorado Springs to Oklahoma City because bad weather closed the airport in Dallas, where the team was connecting. The team spent three hours on the tarmac in Abilene, Texas, then missed a flight out of Dallas and had to bus the rest of the way. After leaving Colorado Springs at 4:30 a.m., the Sounds got to the ballpark at 5:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game.

The clubhouses often are substandard, the postgame spreads mediocre and finding fine dining can be tough at the Ramadas and Holiday Inns of the Pacific Coast League. “Half the hotels don’t have room service, so you have to be resourceful,” Zito said. “It’s not the Ritz.”

Zito has taken all of it in stride.

“I wouldn’t say it’s killed the ego, but it’s taken some pretty big blows,” Zito said, laughing. “That will happen when you’re in the middle seat at the back of a commercial flight at 6 a.m. with a layover and you’re the one starting that night.”

Many players looking to return to the bigs bail on minor-league clubs after a month or so, as Manny Ramirez did with the A’s in 2012.

Not Zito.

“Barry definitely committed himself to that lifestyle and the team,” said Oakland reliever Dan Otero, who recently returned from a stint at Nashville. “If he’s in the middle seat on the plane, he didn’t make anyone move for him. He charts pitches in the stands between starts. He brings in the bucket after batting practice. He’s all in.”

Oakland might beckon soon. The A’s lost starter Jesse Hahn indefinitely to a forearm strain, and Chris Bassitt will jump from Nashville to take Hahn’s spot in the rotation. That leaves Zito as one of the best possibilities if Kazmir is dealt or if any other starter is injured.

Sean Nolin, acquired from Toronto in the Josh Donaldson deal, is on Nashville’s disabled list with shoulder soreness and though he is throwing again, Nolin must rebuild his arm strength, so he wouldn’t be an option for weeks. A.J. Griffin is on Nashville’s DL with a shoulder strain and he isn’t throwing. Drew Pomeranz has performed well in Oakland’s bullpen and would have to get acclimated to starting again.

“If we needed another starter, we’d consider a handful of guys and Barry is one of them,” said assistant general manager David Forst, who also mentioned Pomeranz and Nashville starter Brad Mills. “His last 10 starts, he’s gone six, six-plus innings every time. He’s been very consistent.”

Zito got off to a rough start but recovered well upon adjusting to being back in a rotation after a year off from baseball. His ERA was 5.96 in April; it’s down to 3.57. Batters are hitting .236 against him, including .197 this month.

“What Barry is doing down there, he could do in the big leagues,” Otero said. “I don’t think there would be any difference for him. His curveball is still great. Everyone wants to get him back here, and he’d be a real asset for any team.”

“Barry is looking really good. Even when he wasn’t dominating, he was still battling and getting outs,” said outfielder Jake Smolinski, called up from Nashville two weeks ago. “Obviously, he knows how to pitch, and his stuff is really good.

“I was really impressed with how he prepares and I think he will get a chance; it would be good to see him again. He deserves it.”

Zito isn’t thinking too much about getting called up, he said, because he has no control over it, plus it’s bad juju to keep tabs on the players ahead of you. “If you get wrapped up in ‘How’s this guy doing? How’s that guy doing?’ it’s not healthy,” Zito said. “I haven’t followed the big-league team a lot except Sonny Gray, and I’m so happy for him with what he’s been doing.”

In the meantime, Zito has enjoyed living in Nashville. “I’m obsessed with it,” he said. He’s making contacts in the music industry and he wants to be a songwriter, not necessarily a performer, when his baseball career ends.

And Zito is loving that baseball part, too, even with all the hassles and indignities of the minors.

“It’s been great for me, personally — you can’t say, ‘Oh, this and that in the past,’” Zito said. “You can’t have any sense of entitlement or tell everyone how it is, or they would be like, ‘Get out of here, man.’ It’s been a very cool experience.”

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser

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