Cotton on mound, off dance floor
MESA, ARIZ. >> Jharel Cotton’s first bullpen session of the spring was a long time coming.
The right-hander is approaching the year-mark since his Tommy John surgery, and Tuesday was his first time throwing off a mound the full distance to the plate. But before that, Cotton found himself looking for ways to keep himself busy back at his offseason home in Detroit.
Looking to read as much as he could, Cotton eventually grew bored of it and decided to put down the book to pick up a new hobby — dancing.
“It just frees your body up,” Cotton said. “When you go dancing, you don’t care about anything. You just go out and have a good time.”
The dancing served as a sort of meditation for Cotton, who would go out almost every weekend in Detroit with his wife. He didn’t take up anything exotic, more just regular club music, but Cotton hopes to take lessons for a dance that might actually help him on the field.
“I’ve heard salsa is pretty good for the hips,” Cotton said. “I do want to get into salsa, that’s the next dance I want to tackle next offseason.”
For now Cotton will focus on this upcoming season, which the A’s hope to see him provide an impact at some point. A return to the big leagues still isn’t likely until some time in June or July, but Cotton’s bullpen session was a nice milestone in his progression.
“It felt like Christmas out there,” Cotton said. “It felt like you’re a kid again. It’s a sport you love and just glad to be doing what we love again.”
Top A’s pitching prospect A.J. Puk also threw his first bullpen session alongside Cotton. The two spent plenty of time during their rehab, both on similar timetables as they recover from Tommy John.
The A’s had Cotton and Puk dial it back a bit, only throwing around 70-76 mph, but manager Bob Melvin was pleased with what he saw.
“They weren’t going that hard at it but both of them were excited to be on a mound in uniform with the rest of the team. It’s a tough process when you have to rehab like that and the fact they have each other on the same timetable helps some.”
• Jerry Blevins returns to the A’s a different type of
pitcher, a veteran who is welltraveled. But that sense of humor he had his first time around remains intact.
“I don’t think I’ll get sick from mold in this one,” Blevins joked when talking about the differences from his first A’s stint, referencing the club’s older spring home of Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The left-hander remained positive through a tough free agency long enough for a minor league deal to reunite with Oakland, where he spent the first seven seasons of his 11-year big league career. He didn’t want to get too deep into it, but Blevins has some thoughts on the unusual state of the free-agent market, which still features stars like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado without teams as spring training gets underway.
“It was definitely different this time around for me than it was before on top of my performance last year,” Blevins said of his free-agent experience. “It’s a rough go for pretty much everyone and there are some changes that need to be made because there are too many good players out there still looking for a job.”
Blevins, 35, struggled in 2018 with the Mets as his ERA ballooned to a careerworst 4.97. The holder of a solid 3.66 ERA over his career, Blevins hopes a return to Oakland, where he compiled a 3.30 ERA over 281 appearances from 2007-13, can get him back on track.
“I never really had a clear role last year. I started slow and got hot, got cold, just inconsistent and that’s out of character for me,” Blevins said. “I just want to get back to knowing what you get when you put me on the mound.”
Blevins should get every opportunity to re-prove himself as a reliable lefty specialist. Ryan Buchter is the only left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster, and while he is utilized often against righthanded batters as well as lefties, Blevins is more of a lefthanded specialist. In 12 big league seasons, Blevins has held left-handers to a .216 batting average.
Like other free agents on board, Blevins was drawn back to the A’s after watching them put together their playoff run last season.
“It’s like your first love. You always keep an eye and check up on them. I always followed Oakland, plus I’ve had friends and teammates who passed through here,” Blevins said.