MESA, Ariz. — Ron Wolforth won’t throw an inning in the big leagues this year, but he could have a huge impact on the A’s starting rotation.

It was Wolforth who resuscitated Scott Kazmir’s career a couple of years back. And Monday came the news that another Wolforth reclamation case, Barry Zito, has signed with the A’s.

Zito will be on a minor league contract, but if the left-hander does as well as Wolforth believes he will, the one-time Cy Young Award winner could easily fit into the A’s rotation. He will wear uniform number 75, according to A’s equipment manager Steve Vucinich. It’s the same number he wore for all but the first year when he was previously with Oakland from 2000-2006.

Wolforth and Zito worked together for much of the last four months at Wolforth’s Texas Baseball Ranch in the Houston area, retooling the left-hander’s game.

“I would not be surprised at all if he made the A’s rotation,” Wolforth said Tuesday. “In my opinion, the only thing holding other teams back from signing him is that they were waiting on his velocity.”

Wolforth broke down Zito’s style in an effort to rediscover the fastball he had lost in his last few years with the Giants. Zito was never a mid-90s guy on the radar gun, but with his curve and changeup he didn’t need to be.

He’s throwing 88 mph now, which is below his career best, but Wolforth clients tend to get their velocity gradually over time. Kazmir, who won 15 games for the A’s last season, is throwing in the mid-90s again, but he was in the mid-80s and out of baseball before turning to Wolforth.

“I believe in April and May you will see Barry throwing at 90 again,” Wolforth said. “We didn’t sell out trying for velocity. It was important to keep his other pitches. I think his curve, which was always his best pitch, is better than ever.

“If he has that curve and a 92-mph fastball, signing him would be a no-brainer. I think he’ll get to 92 before too much longer. It’s still part of the process.”

The Giants had long been concerned about Zito’s failing velocity during his final years leading up to letting him go after the 2013 season. When Zito came knocking at Wolforth’s door after taking the 2014 season off, velocity was on his mind, too.

“Barry told me he felt he’d slowly lost some velocity over the years, and he really didn’t feel like he should have,” Wolforth said. “He was stronger, he was more fit, he was more flexible, so in his mind he shouldn’t be losing velocity.

“We had to be cautious, because he’s always had a very good curve ball, and we didn’t want to take that away just so he could look pretty with his velo. In four months, he never missed a day, never was late for a session. He was curious, open-minded and always taking notes. And the velo started to come back without putting too much stress on the elbow.”

Wolforth did say that Zito won’t quite look like Zito once he gets into an A’s uniform.

“When you see him throw, you will notice a definite difference,” he said. “The old hook he had where he went behind his back during the windup, that’s gone. We didn’t set out to eliminate the hook, but it’s a process of taking links out of his personal bicycle chain to make him more efficient as a pitcher.

“He was open-minded about the process and ready to listen. You don’t always get that in a proven big-leaguer. I’ve worked with a whole bunch of them, and Barry has a better sense of how to pitch than anybody I’ve ever worked with. I think the A’s know that. That’s a skill, and not everybody has it.

“But Barry Zito has that in spades. Given enough time, Barry will be a great pickup. He will shock people.”