Olson, Laureano among Cactus League standouts
MESA, ARIZ. >> The A’s are only a week into Cactus League games. Many players have just a handful of at-bats and innings under their belts. Most have seen no game action. Players are just starting to rev their engines.
But even in these quick bursts, some players have already shown glimmers of good. Here are four A’s who are off to solid starts this spring.
Matt Olson
The potency of the A’s offense will hinge on a few things — Matt Chapman’s re-emergence after surgery, infusion of new talent such as Elvis Andrus and Mitch Moreland, Sean Murphy’s development and, of course, Olson’s quest to redeem himself after a troubling 2020 season.
Take with a grain of salt that this takeaway is based on seven spring training at-bats, but Olson looks far more like his 2019 self at the plate. A tweak with his swing he worked on during the offseason is paying off immediately. Sometimes the quicker the payoff, the bet- ter — confidence-wise. His two home runs and a dou- ble so far have been loud, and laying off inside pitches he struggled with last year.
“I’ve gotten to a couple of pitches early I wasn’t handling well last year.” Olson said Saturday. “The past few games I’ve had a few inside pitches, the double I hit at Salt River that were on the inside part of the plate that I was able to work my hands well to keep it fair. Yes, it’s early, but its the best I’ve felt in spring. Having results early is a part of it.”
From film last season — in which he hit .195 in 60 games — Olson noticed his bat was far too horizontal, which altered his bat path and made him roll over pitches inside. So Olson is encouraged that he’s able to barrel some inside pitches with a more vertical bat path.
“My bat was a little too flat, just to be able to get to the inside pitch, I had to work around my body, which, when I’m spinning I’m not doing well and I roll over balls to the right side and ground out,” Olson said. “That good vertical bat and clean path gives me a chance to work through the ball and be able to drive it instead of just on top of it.”
Olson is hitting the ball hard, too. His first home run clocked a 116-mph exit velocity. His double clocked in at 102 mph.
“It’s been good to be able to see it,” Olson said. “I feel like my timing and rhythm is in a good spot for this early on.”
“Eyewash” is old school terminology for “fake hustle.” One might hear the word most during spring training, when players are going through the motions of going all out — running out ground balls, spending extra hours in the cages — for the sake of keeping up appearances.
Laureano doesn’t do eyewash. He’s making the same hustle plays he would in a regular-season game, and it’s all in earnest. Take, for example, a routine single on a ball up the middle that Laureano turned into a double during Friday’s game against the Angels. He’s done that before in a regular-season game, saying he notices outfielders sleeping through the routine and makes a mid-run decision to challenge them. It’s paid off both times.
With Marcus Semien gone, Laureano is a leadoff candidate this year. He may not have the OBP and OPS that a Mark Canha holds, but he makes up for it by being aggressive on the bases. Laureano is also off to a sneaky solid start this spring. Add a triple to that single-turned-double, one walk and a hit-by-pitch.
Miguel Romero
The A’s are slow-rolling their starters and bullpen regulars into Cactus League play. So prospects are getting a good look early on. Hard-throwing righthanded reliever Romero impressed in his one inning this spring against Milwaukee. He hit a batter but struck out the side on his slider and incorporating a new changeup.
While the bullpen may be too crowded for someone like Romero, he could certainly be key depth as a back-end arm this year and, more clearly in future seasons.
Parker Dunshee
Dunshee is another pitcher who may be on the outside of the active roster looking in. But the A’s will get a good look at him as an arm on the cusp of his big league moment.
In one two-inning outing against the Brewers, Dunshee showed he might be onto significant growth and development since a tough 2019, when he held a 4.36 ERA in 130 innings with Double-a Midland and Triple-a Las Vegas.
The top pitching prospect dealt two scoreless, hitless innings with one walk against a lineup of Brewers regulars.
“It was pretty much their starting lineup, facing guys that are pretty established,” Dunshee said after his outing last Tuesday. “It was good to compete against those guys.”
Noticing some bad habits on film, Dunshee reworked his delivery during the shutdown. With a new arm path, he’s attacking the zone more aggressively — his bread and butter.
“I got back to what makes me a successful pitcher, and that’s attacking the zone with any pitch at any time,” Dunshee, 26, said.