Chapman takes another step
MESA, ARIZ. >> Matt Chapman finally sees progress in his return to the field.
The A’s third baseman reached another milestone Tuesday in his recovery from shoulder surgery by taking part in three rounds of live batting practice. It was the first time he participated in a session this spring.
“It’s just going to be about holding him back,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s going to want to speed it up, but there’s no reason to. It looked like midseason form watching him take BP today.”
The team has not announced a timetable for Chapman’s debut with the A’s set to open the Cactus League on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners at Hohokam Stadium. But the Gold Glove infielder is cautiously optimistic he could begin as soon as the end of next week.
Chapman will advance to full batting practice and hitting off the machine during workouts today and then take a scheduled day off Thursday. That along with diving for balls at third base are the final evaluations needed before determining when Chapman can play.
“I think that’s going be the hardest thing for me, diving for a ground ball and then pushing
myself up, because that’s where I use my shoulder the most,” Chapman said. “I think that would be the last thing I have to get cleared to get into a game situation.”
Though he’s not all the way back quite yet, the smooth progression is a feeling of relief for Chapman. He no longer wakes up with soreness in his left shoulder as he did in the first few months after the December surgery.
“When I first got surgery it would be really achy in the mornings and hard for me to get it going,” he said. “Now I don’t really need to do much to get it going, it just feels like it’s ready.”
• Lou Trivino is looking to make changes despite a standout rookie campaign.
Few were better than Trivino last season when the reliever led all rookie pitchers with a 2.92 ERA. Yet, he has come to spring training hoping for improvements.
“I’m working on my arm action to be a little shorter,” Trivino said. “I was pretty blessed and fortunate to have a good rookie season, but there’s a lot of areas where I could improve and that’s what I’m aiming to do.”
Trivino, 27, also wants to add a changeup to his repertoire this season.
“It’s getting there,” Trivino said. “That’s what spring training is for.”
It’s a pitch Trivino had throughout his career. Then he reached the big leagues last April. The reliever immediately found success with his fastball-cutter combination.
He struck out 82 over 74 innings. But A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson feels reintroducing the changeup and curveball could make Trivino even more dominant.
“When he got to the big leagues the first time, he tried to limit his stuff to just the fastball-cutter and he was having great success, so why make an adjustment?” Emerson said. “But knowing that he has these weapons at his disposal, I think it’s time he uses them when he needs them.”
Emerson’s favorite part of working with Trivino was watching the right-hander mature. A good example came early in the season during a trip to Yankee Stadium.
Trivino entered the game and failed to record an out, walking two batters before getting pulled in an eventual 10-5 victory over the Yankees. Emerson recalled his mound visit that day to calm down the pitcher who admittedly was rattled by fanfare over being in New York.
Then came the A’s wild-card game in New York in October. Trivino kept the A’s in contention when asked to end a threat after Liam Hendriks had allowed two runs in the first inning. The reliever tossed three scoreless innings.
“I remember the first game in New York I went to the mound and told him, `You’re going to be in these moments the rest of your career,’” Emerson said. “When I made the trip in New York during the playoffs, I told him, `Remember what I told you three months ago?’ These are the positions he’s going to be in because he’s that good of a pitcher.”
• The A’s are taking it easy with one of their most valuable bullpen arms. Reliever Joakim Soria, suffering from right hip tendonitis, was held back from hard-throwing activities Tuesday.
“We’ll just see how he feels today after playing catch,” manager Melvin said. “It’ll probably be a couple of days and then see if we can get him off the mound.”
Soria was signed to a twoyear deal in the offseason after having saved 220 games over 11 big league seasons. He appeared in 66 games with the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers last season, combining for a 3.12 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 16 walks in 60 2/3 innings.
The right-hander fills the void left by the free agent departure of set-up man Jeurys Familia, who signed with the New York Mets.