A’s Barreto shows off power, speed in rout of Padres
SAN DIEGO — Franklin Barreto reminded everyone why he’s still considered the top hitting prospect in the A’s organization.
The second baseman’s flashy combination of speed and power was on display as he finished the day 2 for 5 with a threerun home run in Wednesday’s 12-4 victory over the Padres.
It hasn’t been a pretty season for Barreto. For the first time in his career, he was struggling in the minors only hitting .236 at Triple-A Nashville before getting called up last week to replace the injured Matt Chapman on the roster. Now in his third stint in the big leagues this season after getting called up twice before for only limited action, Barreto admitted it’s been tough to find any type of rhythm at the plate at either level.
But when he gets in a rhythm like he did Wednesday, Barreto can do some special things, like launch a 3-2 sinker from Joey Lucchesi well up the seats in leftcenter of spacious Petco Park his first atbat and then speed around to reach third base on a swinging bunt that rolled 15 feet in front of home plate after a couple of throwing errors, later scoring on a fly out to right field by Josh Phegley to medium right field.
“He’s got a lot of athleticism and on top of it for kind of a small package, he’s got some power,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Barreto. “We’ve seen that before. Get him some consistent at-bats and he’s got a chance to be a productive guy. He showed why in those first couple of at-bats.”
It’s a bit odd seeing Barreto’s average so low in the minors. In his six years of professional baseball prior to this season, he’s finished hitting at least .276 or above. But this is an adjustment for Barreto. His first two stints in the big leagues this season lasted a couple of weeks each, only making an appearance in a total of five games off the bench.
Each time he’d get sent back down to Nashville, it was a struggle to readjust to playing every day and get used to the minor league pitching again. Even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, the at-bats were mostly uncomfortable.
“It’s difficult after being accustomed to playing every day,” Barreto said. “It can be difficult getting used to what they’re having me do right now, going up and down between the minors and majors. I’m just starting to get comfortable. But I have to try to do my job regardless.”
Melvin is trying to get Barreto as many at-bats as he can this time around, but admitted there may be times Chad Pinder, a .296 hitter against lefties this season, could play over him at second base based on matchups, as was the case in Tuesday’s win over the Padres. Going
back to American League play Thursday in Chicago, Pinder could also play left field with Khris Davis slotting back as the designated hitter, allowing Barreto to get more consistent time at second base.
“I’m trying to get him as many at-bats as possible. The more he’s gonna be out there the more comfortable he’s gonna be,” Melvin said. “When you don’t play consistently, it makes it more difficult. When you’re out there, it just becomes second nature. You saw today what we think he’s capable of.”
Barreto’s three-run homer in the second was immediately followed up by a solo shot by Phegley. Mark Canha and Matt Olson led off the third by also clubbing back-to-back home runs, marking the first time the A’s (38-36) had hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive innings since May 14, 1997.