Highlights from fullsquad workout
Jake Diekman faced live hitters for the first time in A’s training camp Tuesday and quickly found himself in a tough matchup with outfielder Ramón Laureano.
“It was probably like 10 pitches,” Diekman, the lefthanded reliever, said of the atbat. “He was locked in. He knew exactly what I was throwing. That was miserable.”
After a twoday wait because of a delay in coronavirus test results, the A’s held their first day of fullteam workouts Tuesday at the Coliseum and simulated game conditions with live batters and a team of defenders in the field.
The livespeed portion occurred outside of the media viewing window. Diekman said on a later conference call that he faced four batters and threw roughly 20 pitches — about half to Laureano.
“He took, I think, strike three twice,” said Diekman, who added he mixed in a changeup on which he worked during the layoff. “He said it was a ball. It wasn’t. It was a strike.”
Shortstop Marcus Semien said he had atbats against starter Frankie Montas and relievers Liam Hendriks and T.J. McFarland. Semien said he grounded out to shortstop against Montas and hit a double off the wall and single up the middle in his other atbats.
“It was good to get back out there,” Semien said. “Didn’t feel as rusty as I thought, so that’s a good sign.”
A’s position players were unable to take the field until late Monday, when the team received results of intake tests from Friday. Semien said it was clear from Monday night’s workout that “everybody’s been working” and players were eager to get into game situations.
Hitters typically require time in spring training to regain their timing and must do so quickly in camp with less than 21⁄2 weeks before the scheduled July 24 season opener.
“It was important to get live atbats today,” Semien said. “Kind of playing catchup here. If we face live pitching close to every day, I know we don’t have that many pitchers but I think we’ll face a lot of live pitching and we’ll get ready.”
Manager Bob Melvin said Sunday it felt like the A’s were already “five days behind” but before Tuesday’s workout said having position players cleared to practice eased that anxiety.
“I don’t feel that way right now,” Melvin said. “At the end of this thing, guys are going to be itching probably with a week to go, anyway.”
Before the simulated game, the A’s took batting practice structured to new camp rules. A few hitters walked to cages beyond center field as others hit on the main diamond. Two infielders took groundballs and outfield shaggers stood mostly spaced apart along the warning track.
On schedule: Melvin said the 60game schedule, which was released Monday and has the A’s playing 20 of their first 29 games in the Bay Area, leaves “not a lot of room for error.”
“I think teams will just go out there and play like it’s August,” Melvin said. “That’ll be the feeling — a little bit more intensity. You know there’s a finish line not too far away.”
The homeheavy start won’t carry its typical edge for the A’s, Melvin said, given fans will not be allowed in the Coliseum amid the pandemic.
“It’ll be different,” Melvin said. “I don’t think homefield advantage is as big a deal anymore.”