Manaea looks to build on last outing in finale
Lefthander Sean Manaea will take the mound in Thursday’s series finale against Arizona trying to build on his best outing in a difficult first month. Manaea pitched five innings for the first time this season and held the Giants to three hits and two earned runs Saturday, both season lows.
“I thought he moved his baseball around much better,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “He got back to using some of his strengths with his pitches. He didn’t overanalyze.”
It was similar to what Manaea said following his start in San Francisco, which inched his ERA down to 7.65.
“As far as today and what I’ve been working on, it’s just trying to be loose,” Manaea said. Instead of “being tense up there and trying to make things work, it’s being loose and letting the ball fly and letting those grips and all those things just do what they do, try not to make it any more complicated than that.”
Manaea noted his changeup was more effective in the outing — he threw 26 against the Giants and induced six swingthroughs, according to Brooks Baseball, both season highs. He said he also threw the pitch in the strike zone more to keep hitters offbalance.
Manager Bob Melvin also cited “a better changeup” as a main difference for Manaea in his last outing.
“It’s a big pitch for him,” Melvin said. “It gets a lot of swings and misses. He can throw it in any count. And I think he was having a little tougher time with the feel of it early.”
“I will say that’s one of Sean’s best pitches, so that’s one of the things that he’s got to go and use,” said Emerson.
“It’s just getting back to his strengths, the things he does well. … Not saying we’re not working on other things, but there’s a time where what you do is what you do, and let’s get back to the core values of how you pitch.” Roster move: Before Wednesday’s game, the A’s called up righthander Paul Blackburn from their alternate site and optioned righthander James Kaprielian to San Jose. Melvin said the move was to shore up a bullpen that pitched 61⁄3 innings Tuesday at Arizona.
“It certainly isn’t anything (Kaprielian) did wrong,” Melvin said. “You always want somebody that can give you, if you have to, upwards of five or six innings.”
Blackburn has 17 starts for the A’s over the last three years. Kaprielian made his majorleague debut Sunday against the Giants in San Francisco, throwing two innings and allowing one run. Briefly: A.J. Puk (shoulder) is scheduled to throw a bullpen Friday and the A’s will evaluate afterward if he’s ready to face hitters. … Melvin said Frankie Montas, who allowed nine runs in 12⁄3 innings Tuesday, is “fine. Just a little out of sync and a little frustrated. And was probably a little ahead of his arm, they’re looking at a lot of video to kind of identify mechanically maybe what was going on. But the stuff ’s there and he feels good.”