Durable pitcher Fiers questionable to start season because of sore back
MESA, ARIZ. >> Mike Fiers, 35, has been sidelined since earlier this week with back pain, manager Bob Melvin said, and there is no timetable for the pitcher’s return. He’s not playing catch, but he has increased his activity and is feeling better. He could play catch today.
With two weeks until Opening Day, will Fiers be available to start a game on the rotation’s first turn? Fiers has been durable in his three seasons with the A’s.
“Some concern, but he’s always been a guy that’s been able to take the ball,” Melvin said. “You look at his history with us, I don’t think he’s missed a start.”
Frankie Montas earned Sunday’s spring start against the White Sox. He threw two innings in a simulated game on Wednesday and, apparently, has flashed 98 mph on the radar gun.
Montas is expected to pitch in Sunday’s game after a delayed start to camp because of COVID-19.
TATIS SHOWS OFF >> The Fernando Tatís Jr. experience descended on Hohokam Stadium on Friday. Batting leadoff, the young Padres phenom made a statement.
Running up a 3-2 count against Sergio Romo in the first inning, Tatís then launched a deep home run to left field. It was the 23-year-old’s first at-bat back from the flu. It was the third run Romo has allowed in two innings this spring.
“He looks like he’s playing in the park,” Melvin said of Tatís. “He’s always got a smile on his face, laughing and enjoying himself. In a game that can sometimes be stoic, he’s pretty against the grain as far as that goes.”
Despite the star player’s shining moment on the other side, the A’s got themselves a 5-4 comeback win Friday on Buddy Reed’s go-ahead single in the seventh inning in their first nine-inning game of the spring.
ROMO STARTED A GAME? >> Yes, Romo started Friday’s game against the Padres, and this wasn’t an opener experiment. We got a backward game. And Tatís was one of few starters the Padres
threw out.
With rain threatening to fall all day, the A’s decided it best to get the veteran relief pitchers in the game first, in case the game got called early. The game’s scheduled starter, Daulton Jefferies, entered the game in the fifth inning.
That Tatís home run was the only run Romo allowed in his inning. Yusmeiro Petit allowed a hit with a walk and a strikeout. Adam Kolarek threw a perfect inning with a strikeout, and Burch Smith gave up a hit with a strikeout in his inning. INJURY UPDATES >> Tony Kemp will have two days off after being hit in the back with a pitch and removed from Thursday’s game against Texas, Melvin said. Reliever Trevor Rosenthal, out with a groin strain, threw a bullpen session on Thursday and will throw to hitters in a simulated game on Sunday.