A’s observations: Prospects Buddy Reed, Nick Allen bring the defense in spring opener.
MESA, Ariz. — Outfield prospect Buddy Reed hasn’t seen much game action in the A’s system. Oakland acquired him from the Padres in December 2019 as the player to be named for Jurickson Profar. He got into a few games last spring training before it shut down.
On Sunday, as the A’s starting right fielder in their Cactus League opener, Reed made a quick impression, throwing out the Dodgers’ Matt Beaty at the plate on a sharply hit ball toward the line. Reed also made a throw to third that equally impressed manager Bob Melvin.
“We’ve seen him obviously before, watched him throw,” Melvin said. “He was making throws like that when we took infieldoutfield today. So it didn’t surprise us, yet both were impressive.”
Reed, a nonroster invitee to camp, was drafted in the second round from Florida in 2016 and his defense is wellregarded. MLB Pipeline in January named Reed to its AllDefense prospect team. He has not played above DoubleA, batting .228 in the Texas League in 2019. He was at the A’s alternate site last summer and said he took away an emphasis on “being myself.”
“For the longest time, I’d always had someone tell me it’s sort of got to be this way, that way in order to do things,” Reed said. “When I got in the box, a couple of guys just helped me with being more loose, being yourself, knowing who you are as a hitter and even defensively.”
⏩ Another top A’s defensive prospect, shortstop Nick Allen, played the second half of Sunday’s game and made two sharp plays: on a grounder up the middle and a popup that he caught inches from the ground near the foul line after dealing with the wind.
“Nick, he’s just really smooth,” Melvin said.
⏩ A moment you wouldn’t have seen at a game in 2020, when stadiums sat empty: Dodgers third baseman Edwin Rios fielded a foul ball and tried to flip it into the stands — but the ball ricocheted back onto the field. Fans booed — and got louder when a ball boy retrieved the ball and ran back into the dugout with it.
⏩ Another one: A’s first baseman Seth Brown fouled a pitch into the seats that was caught by a man wearing a lightblue hat, lightblue sport coat and Dodgers print pants. The man doffed the hat as the rest of a crowd of 1,998 cheered.
⏩ The A’s and Dodgers played seven innings as allowed under MLB protocols this spring, but the seventhinning stretch was still observed at Hohokam Stadium. Three batters later, fans stood up again to leave.
⏩ Catcher Sean Murphy, who is returning from surgery for a collapsed lung, has not resumed catching bullpen sessions but played catch Saturday. “It’s just making sure the scar heals in there and you don’t get any tearing of that,” Melvin said. “The last thing he’ll do is hit. I think he’s a little bit away from that. But just to see him playing catch to me is kind of remarkable.”
⏩ Outfielder Skye Bolt is sidelined with a shoulder issue; Melvin said he should be “hopefully just several days away.”