Pitcher Puk may be ahead of curve
Sixth overall pick dropped the pitch at Florida, but unleashes it for Oakland
MESA, Ariz. — One of the first things A’s minor league pitching coordinator Gil Patterson did after Oakland made A.J. Puk the sixth overall pick in last year’s draft was reintroduce the 6-foot-7 left-hander to an old pitch.
In high school in Iowa, Puk routinely used a curve as part of a four-pitch selection. When he moved to college ball at the University of Florida, the Gators had him give it up. He had a power fastball, decent changeup and slider, and that was enough for the college game. Best to have him concentrate on those pitches.
But in one of Patterson’s first conversations with Puk, the lefty mentioned that he’d thrown a curve way back when.
“I asked him first to show me how he held it,” Patterson said. “And then I had him throw a couple. And it went like ‘W-o-oo-o-s-h.’”
As he said it, Patterson moved his hand from above his head in an arc down to his knees. Florida may have had legit reasons for wanting Puk to settle on three pitches, but Patterson decided the A’s were going to expand the lefty’s horizons.
Puk couldn’t have been more delighted.
“I threw the curve in high school, but once I got to college they wanted me to just go with the slider,” Puk said. “I
always liked the curve, though. When I got drafted and they told me they wanted the curve, I was ready. It gives me another pitch.”
In his first throwing session Thursday, Puk threw a couple and catcher Bruce Maxwell was sufficiently impressed to say, “it’s got real good hump to it.”
“I think he’ll be able to throw it for strike one, then also use it as a put-away pitch,” Maxwell said.
Puk has been compared by some to Cleveland World Series standout Andrew Miller for his size, blazing fastball and being left-handed.
His fastball sits at 95 mph and can touch 97 at times, which is Miller-like. His slider has the potential to be a wipeout pitch, busting in as it does against right-handed hitters and tailing away from lefties. His 83-mph change-up is a work in progress. Add in the curve that breaks in at 78 mph, and Puk comes to battle armed with some weapons.
“I can throw hard, but it’s not all velocity,” Puk said. “I won’t live or die with it. It helps, but it’s not everything. When they came to me and said they wanted the curve, I was happy because it’s what I’d always thrown.”
Baseball in the spring n is often a game of comparisons. In seeing players for the first time, it’s routine to hear the question, “Who does he remind you of?”
In describing Paul Blackburn, A’s manager Bob Melvin said the onetime Heritage High-Brentwood star reminded him of Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks.
In addition to a World Series ring, Kendricks won the National League ERA title last year with a 2.13 mark, so there are far worse comparisons to evoke.
A Giants’ fan while growing up, Blackburn first modeled himself after Jason Schmidt when he pitched for San Francisco. “But as I got older, that kind of changed,” he said. “Now I look at Kyle Hendricks. I really feel my game is similar to his.”
Blackburn has made strides to emulate Hendricks. He’s been a pro since 2012, last year pitching at Double-A in both the Cubs’ and Seattle Mariners’ organizations. He hasn’t ever had an ERA above 3.33 for a full season in the minors, one of the reasons the A’s went after him this winter.
The big three in the n A’s starting rotation are still some time away from pitching in a game.
Sonny Gray, Kendall Graveman and Sean Manaea threw side-by-side Friday for the second time this spring, and Melvin is optimistic all three will acquit themselves well once games begin.
Melvin was particularly impressed by Graveman, who was the only A’s pitcher not to miss a start last year in his best big-league season — 10-11 with a 4.11 ERA, the winningest pitcher on a last-place team.
“Kendall’s become quite the perfectionist here,” Melvin said. “You talk about maturity and the success he had last year. I think there are a lot of things that he is doing differently now than a couple of years ago. His confidence is extremely high at this point.
“He missed the glove one time and got really frustrated about missing the glove one time in his second bullpen since we opened camp. He is looking to take it to another level.”
With the promise of n intense rain over the next 24 hours or so, the A’s have moved their workout schedule up by about 90 minutes for Saturday.
Because the A’s have n a full month of games starting Feb. 25, Melvin said there are no plans right now for any kind of intrasquad games.
Left-hander Felix n Doubront and righty Chris Bassitt, both coming off Tommy John surgeries early last year, threw on the side Friday. Both are throwing well, but it doesn’t seem either will be ready much before July.