Barreto’s 1st homer part of his 2-hit day

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The youngest player in the A’s camp is turning the most heads.

Franklin Barreto, 21, went 2-for-4 and hit his first homer of the spring in Oakland’s 6-5 loss to the Indians on Thursday. He’s 12-for-25 with an OPS of 1.180. Barreto, acquired in the Josh Donaldson deal with Toronto in 2014, is also handling shortstop and second base well — and chances are he’ll be in Oakland before the end of the season.

“He’s just a baseball player, both sides,” manager Bob Melvin said. “There’s not much this guy can’t do. Really the only question is when, not if.”

Barreto’s first-inning homer off Zach McAllister was to the opposite field. “I feel really comfortable hitting the ball to that side of the field,” Barreto said, with Juan Dorado interpreting.

“He’s some kind of special talent,” catcher Stephen Vogt said. “He’s shown what he’s capable of and he’s going to be a very, very good player for a long time; just a confident, quiet, really nice kid. It’s fun to watch him play.”

With Barreto having the potential to play either short or second at the big-league level, some other minor-league middle infielders might wind up shifting elsewhere. For instance, Chad Pinder will start playing some in the outfield when he is reassigned to minorleague camp, Melvin said.

“We’re going to start moving him around quite a bit,” Melvin said. “You don’t want to block a bat like that. If you’re looking at the next (Adam Rosales) type player in our organization, it could be him. He’s expressed an interest in it.”

Briefly: Vogt, briefly sidelined by right heel soreness, caught for the first time in a week and said everything went well. “No pain, and it got tested, too, having to hustle on the bases,” said Vogt, who doubled in the first. “Everything felt really good.” … Jharel Cotton’s start at minorleague camp during the A’s off-day went well, Melvin said. Cotton allowed one run in fourplus innings and got his pitch count up to 70.