Melvin says left-hander Puk, back at full health, is throwing well
This time last year, A. J. Puk was riding a slow train back from major elbow reconstruction surgery, having undergone a Tommy John operation in April 2018.
“I definitely try not to think about that, but I just look at it every day and try to earn my health and do what I have to do to feel good,” Puk said after Thursday’s exhibition against the Colorado Rockies.
Considering his grueling progression to health, Puk’s first two starts in the Cactus League have been a breeze. The left-hander hurled an easy 96-mph fastball out of the gate against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday and made Kris Bryant look silly on a slider. He was hurling an easy 95 again in his start against the Rockies.
Puk tacked on another inning this time around, though. In two innings, he tallied one strikeout and gave up two hits in the A’s 5-2 win at Hohokam Stadium.
“He got a lineup to get your attention, too,” manager Bob Melvin said. “They brought a lot of their big boys here. You want him to have that kind of look, especially early in the spring. And he looked good again with all those pitches.”
The big boys included a lineup featuring Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado. Puk navigated his way through seven batters in tidy fashion. He was so efficient that he threw some
extra pitches in the bullpen after his departure. BURCH SMITH TAKES SPIN ON
MOUND » The name Burch Smith should be a trivia game favorite filed under the list of rare San Francisco Giants — Oakland A’s big league transactions made in baseball history.
Smith is a 29-year- old right-handed pitcher who made his debut in 2013 with the San Diego Padres. He had Tommy John surgery in 2015 and took a five-year gap under the minor league umbrella before popping back up in the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals in 2018. The Giants designated Smith for assignment on Feb. 10, and the A’s traded for him in exchange for cash considerations on Feb. 15.
He’s been in the A’s clubhouse a few weeks and made his Cactus League debut on Thursday, throwing one clean inning with one strikeout.
A few minutes after Smith was traded to the A’s, word spread throughout the A’s camp that Smith had a top-notch spin rate — Statcast ranks his fastball spin rate as above average. That was displayed in his A’s spring debut.
“High spin-rate guy, Emo (pitching coach Scott Emerson) was right,” Melvin said. “He got some swings and misses at the top of the zone. It’s not 96 or 97 mph, but it plays up a bit, looks like he has a good breaking ball. Have to see more but good for a first look.”
Smith had some ugly numbers heading into camp. A 6.57 ERA and a 1.43 K/ BB ratio and 1.88 WHIP in 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers and Giants last season. In 2018, his 8.3 barrel percentage was ranked in the bottom 8% of the league and his .373 weighted on-base percentage ranked among the bottom 4% . He’s clearly struggled with his command.
But stats don’t tell the whole story. What the A’s might see — other than spin rate — is that Smith has a few starts and long relief appearances under his belt. Smith has started 13 games in his career — seven before Tommy John with the Padres and six with the Kansas City Royals after it.
Given the injury-riddled history this rotation carries, the A’s might value even more any arm that can carry a heavier innings load. Chris Bassitt is the proven, go-to swingman and long reliever, fully capable of coming out of the bullpen or picking up a spot start — or more.
Smith has a four-seamer that sits in the low-90s, but can top out in the mid-90s with spin rate that makes it play up. He also has a curveball, changeup and rarely used slider. SPEAKING OF CHRIS BASSITT » The versatile A’s starter/ swingman/ long reliever recovered nicely from his tough start. Bassitt entered Thursday’s game having allowed two runs, two walks with one strikeout in one inning.
But Thursday, Bassitt flashed his big, rainbow curveball in a two-inning effort in which he allowed just one hit and collected one strikeout. He lowered his spring ERA from 18.00 to 6.00.
“There’s such a huge gap, that even when you see it and you have to be ready for his fastball or cutter, it’s tough to stay back on,” Melvin said. “It ended up being a really good pitch for him, he got a lot of swings and misses on it because of the 20-mph gap. It’s almost you have to look for it or go the other way to track it. He’s got good command of it, too.” ALLEN IN RUNNING FOR BACKUP CATCHER » The battle to be 25-year- old phenom Sean Murphy’s backup catcher is heated. Austin Allen provides a key lefthanded bat and has already blended into the clubhouse culture nicely.
Allen went 1 for 2 on Thursday, ramping his average to .333 (4 for 14) this spring. With Murphy out of spring action until early March, Allen and Jonah Heim have accrued important one- on- one time with almost the entire pitching staff. But the race is still tight. Heim is hot at the plate, too, collecting four hits in 10 at-bats with four RBIs.