Chafin’s effectiveness offers late-game relief
A’s reliever Andrew Chafin is not one to magnify pitching in the ninth inning.
“Honestly, I just try to treat it like every other outing,” Chafin said. “Just go out there and get three outs before they score.”
On Thursday, Chafin recorded the final three outs of Oakland’s 3-1 win without the White Sox scoring. He also got the final six outs of a win Wednesday, no scoring allowed. It reflected a role shift for the left-hander, who is lending some stability to the back end of the A’s bullpen.
Oakland acquired Chafin
from the Cubs in late July as an apparent setup man. Lou Trivino’s detour from the closer role required a redesign of lateinning jobs. Chafin and Sergio Romo appear their top options to close right now. Chafin has six career saves in 403 majorleague games, three in the past month.
His results offer a reason.
Chafin had a 2.06 ERA in 43 games for the Cubs. His ERA in 19 outings with the A’s is 0.86. All but one of his outings has been scoreless. Over 21 innings, he has allowed 14 hits and only three for extra bases.
The A’s bullpen had a 6.86 ERA in its past 16 games before Thursday. That mark was 9.55 on Oakland’s recent six-game road trip. Early starter exits and ineffective relief outings both contributed. The A’s two wins against the White Sox featured a better blueprint.
Starters Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea each threw seven innings and left with leads. Chafin, pitching after a five-day layoff, worked the final two innings with a four-run lead Wednesday. Romo entered for a scoreless eighth Thursday and Chafin stranded a two-out double in the ninth.
“Obviously, we were slumping a little bit there, but coming in and being able to kind of slam the door like that, I think it’s a big boost,” Chafin said. “It’s going to be just, get the momentum going the right way. Get everybody back on their toes as opposed to being on their heels a little. And I think these last of couple days kind of helped get us going in the right direction with that momentum.”
Efficiency benefits Chafin. He worked the eighth inning Wednesday in six pitches and used 22 total to record six outs. He threw a 13-pitch ninth Thursday and said: “I felt better today than I did yesterday, actually — kind of surprised about that, but I’m not complaining.”
“His velocity might’ve been better at times today than it was” Wednesday, manager Bob Melvin said. “So, look, it’s probably not what he envisioned when he came here, having to close some games. But we have to do the best we can at a particular time. So that’s what he’ll do right now.
“If the lineup had been flipped a little bit differently, I might have gone Chafin (for the eighth) and then Romo. But I don’t think anything bothers him with what inning he pitches in.”
Bassitt update: Starter Chris Bassitt threw a flat-ground session for the first time since having surgery for facial fractures and said: “I feel great, everything’s kind of progressing the way we expected it to.” Bassitt is scheduled for a bullpen session Saturday.