Mike Fiers on track after absence
Right-handed pitcher feels ready but is unlikely to start Opening Day for A’s
“We just wanted to make sure one hundred percent before I came in the locker room. I never tested positive ... and so it took an extra couple of days just to make sure.” – Mike Fiers, A’s pitcher.
Mike Fiers is more than willing to take the ball if asked, but a “precautionary” absence to start the A’s second training camp means someone else will likely get the start on Opening Day.
Fiers had spent time around left-hander Jesus Luzardo, who is currently awaiting word if he’s recovered from COVID-19. Hence the precaution.
“We just wanted to make sure one hundred percent before I came in the locker room,” Fiers said during Tuesday’s video conference. “I never tested positive. To be on the safe side, I didn’t want to have it, and so it took an extra couple of days just to make sure.”
Fiers was last year’s A’s starter on Opening Day and would have liked another one. A’s manager Bob Melvin said he’s not ready to name his starter against the Los Angeles Angels on July 24, but hinted Fiers is a bit behind in the pecking order, although he left
some wiggle room.
“He’s probably not as far along as a couple of guys at this point based on the fact that he had to sit down for a couple of days,” Melvin said. “When you only have so much time to get ready, maybe it sets you back a tad, but if anybody can make it up in a hurry it’s him.”
The favorite in the socially distanced clubhouse is Frankie Montas, who Melvin said threw three “electric” innings in a simulated game Monday. Montas was one of the A’s top pitchers last season before being lost to a suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
“He’s got all the talent in the world. His stuff is some of the best I’ve seen,” Fiers said. “For him I think it’s all mental, just throwing strikes and trusting his stuff in the zone. Before everything went down last year he was one of the best pitchers in the league. I’m excited to watch him.”
Fiers is coming off a 15-4 season with a 3.90 ERA and his second career no-hitter. He said he was throwing regularly in Florida and isn’t far behind.
“I’m building back up to 100 pitches. I was throwing live every Sunday during the quarantine so I feel I’m in good form,” Fiers said. “It’s just about building the innings back up. In the season, as a starter, you need to get up around 100 pitches and that’s where the goal is. After a couple of starts it should be pretty close.”
Rather than making up for lost time, Fiers is simply working his program and accentuating his strengths as a pitcher.
“I’m just trying to stay within myself and just be myself,” Fiers said. “I pride myself on throwing all my pitches for strikes and throwing them on any count and locating every pitch. That’s how I pitch and what I do. I’m not trying to throw any harder, just locate my pitches.”
Melvin liked what he saw from Fiers during a bullpen session Monday.
“He’s got four really good pitches and you understand without velocity why he continues to be so consistent and so good,” Melvin said. The 35-year-old righthander’s ability to get hitters out without top-level stuff is valuable for the rest of a young staff, Melvin believes.
“He doesn’t throw 100. He’s got two no-hitters under his belt, and he’s fit in so well here and has been a great resource for a lot of our guys,” Melvin said. “He’s been terrific.”
Catcher Austin Allen, who spent quarantine time playing “Call of Duty” with Fiers, said he looked ready to go.
”Same old Mike. He’s going to go out there and be consistent, throw strikes and keep people off-balance,” Allen said. “He’s going to give us a chance to win every time out there.”
Given the delayed start after spring training was cut short, the Fiers fury over speaking about the Houston Astros cheating scandal has almost become yesterday’s news.
“We’re not worried about that,” Fiers said. “We’re focused on us as the A’s. Our thought process going forward is we’re going to worry about the A’s, being out there, practicing together and getting everything right.”