A SECOND LOOK
A’s: Jefferies makes an impression in his final Cactus League game
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> “Happy Daulton Jefferies day!”
Those are the words Athletics lefthanded starting pitcher Cole Irvin tweeted Sunday morning, reminding A’s fans that right-handed pitcher Daulton Jefferies was set to take the mound in his final appearance of Cactus League play.
Irvin’s tweet was a public marker of the friendship that he and Jefferies started throughout spring training. In addition to being catch partners, they’ve golfed together, texted after every outing, played Uno over the phone and more. Their friendship has been a welcomed distraction for two players sitting on the fringes of the A’s major league roster.
It just so happens that their main com
petition is each other.
Irvin, Jefferies and lefty A.J. Puk are battling for Oakland’s fifth-starter spot, a race so tightly contested that A’s manager Bob Melvin doesn’t anticipate a decision until the team travels back to Oakland on Monday.
Jefferies’ strong outing on Sunday in his team’s 9-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants only made the decision harder.
“I think today was one of the days he had to fight through his stuff a little bit and be composed out there,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “He showed a lot of fight today. To be able to go out there and pitch without his best stuff and get through five, I thought he did a nice job.”
Spring training statistics are only part of the equation, but Jefferies delivered at an exceptionally high level in camp. Including Sunday’s five-inning performance, in which he allowed just one earned run and three hits, Jefferies owned a 1.50 ERA with a team-best 24 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.
Jefferies believes he’s done enough to keep the A’s attention.
“I think I’ve been as consistent as possible,” Jefferies said. “That was the big goal coming into spring training, just to be consistent. I want them to know who I’m going to be on the mound every time they put me there and every time they give me the ball. I was pretty proud of myself with the way that I handled this spring.”
Since the A’s selected Jefferies in the first round of the 2016 draft out of Cal, they’ve
had confidence that he could one day compete for a spot in the team’s starting rotation. After all, the now25-year-old was among the top college pitchers in the nation in his senior year with the Golden Bears.
The A’s belief in Jefferies didn’t waver after his tumultuous MLB debut last year when he allowed five earned runs in just two innings pitched.
“We haven’t seen a ton of him but we feel a little bit better about our evaluation of him recently,”
Melvin said. “He continues to impress.”
Irvin, Puk and Jefferies made their last Cactus League starts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They were so good they offered little clarity in who should win the job. With all three arms performing well, Emerson said the decision will come down to analytics and matchups.
“Everyone will probably sit down and have a little discussion,” Emerson said. “We’ll go from there and let it manifest and all come together and see where we’re at. I’m sure we’ll start some of those discussions when we get to Oakland. It’s a great problem to have when you have to make tough decisions.”
Irvin delivered six innings of one-hit baseball while striking out 10 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Puk threw four shutout innings on Saturday against the Texas Rangers and Jefferies delivered on Sunday.
“The competition is there,” Irvin said Friday. “I’m looking forward to seeing where I fit in this team because everyone seems to be on a different level to make this Opening Day roster. It’s a lot of fun. There’s motivation to do as good as the last guy just did.”
Whoever wins the fifthstart battle will be thrust into an important role at the outset of the
season. The A’s are scheduled to play 10 straight games before their first day off and the fifth spot in the rotation is set to come up against the Dodgers and the Astros, two teams with a host of offensive firepower.
But Melvin is rather optimistic about that fifth spot in the rotation. Irvin, Puk and Jeffries have given him plenty of reasons.
“We feel like we have several guys we can lean on to get the best at a particular time,” Melvin said. “I’m just not sure who that’s going to be to start.”
TOM SET TO MAKE THE TEAM >>Infielder Vimael Machin and outfielder Seth Brown were optioned on Sunday, the team announced. Machin put together a very strong spring, hitting .286 in 23 games. Brown hit just .226 in as many contests. With both players no longer on the roster, outfielder Ka’ai Tom will make the big league club to start the season. Tom was selected in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft in December.