Trivino’s revival key in 11-game run
OAKLAND, Calif. — Late in a shutout of the Tigers, A’s manager Bob Melvin began to deploy his bullpen. Yusmeiro Petit drew the seventh inning. Lefthander Jake Diekman began the eighth with a lefthanded hitter due up first. For the ninth, Melvin summoned Lou Trivino.
It was the second save chance of the season for the A’s and the second handed to Trivino. With closer Trevor Rosenthal out, Melvin has used Trivino as his highestleverage righthanded reliever. It was a risky proposition the last two seasons. Yet in 2018, Trivino excelled as a set-up man. Against the top of the Tigers’ lineup, Trivino faced three batters and secured the save.
“He’s always had the stuff to do it,” Melvin said after that April 16 win. “We really envisioned him being that guy after ’18 and then when Blake (Treinen) left, but (he) found some tougher times and you have to work back for it.
“It doesn’t mean that he might not have an eighth inning sometimes and Diekman the ninth. … But we’re seeing a guy that’s worked really hard to get back where he was.”
One can cite Trivino’s rookie year as a calibration point. He formed a devastating tandem that season with Treinen, confounding hitters with power sinkers and cutters. Opponents hit .201 against Trivino in 69 games. He averaged more than a strikeout per inning.
His route to this role, though, began several years earlier with a pivot. Trivino entered the A’s system as a starter but he struggled and was moved to the bullpen in 2015 at High A Stockton. As a starter, Trivino didn’t throw especially hard. In spring 2016, as a full-time reliever, he reached the high-90s.
Mike Connors, of TriStates Elite Academy in Quakertown, Pa., began to work with Trivino around that time. Connors said the velocity uptick started with Trivino going from 255 pounds to “a diesel 230” through nutrition and weightlifting. They also altered his mechanics. They studied fireballers like then-Giants prospect Ray Black and compared Trivino’s motions.
“He was very linear before, (and) he got a lot more rotational,” Connors said. “For him, his back leg is ultra-important. If his back leg, and really any pitcher’s, is working properly, they’ll have the juice. But if he gets down the mound too quick — and that’s why you see his deliberate motion — then he kind of loses everything.”
This offseason, Connors said, they revisited those points. Trivino studied his video from 2018 to identify changes. They emphasized Trivino using his back hip to dictate the timing of his delivery and generate power.
“I’m a big delivery guy, I tend to think too much (rather) than too little,” Trivino said. “But right now, I feel consistent with my delivery. Therefore, I’m able to attack and not have to worry about thinking, ‘This has to be here, this has to be there.’ I can just go out and attack hitters.”
In 11 outings, Trivino has allowed two earned runs, both on homers. Opponents have six hits and 15 strikeouts against him in 13 innings.
Rosenthal, signed for $11 million, was meant to anchor the ninth but is out for months at least. For now, Trivino is again a key part of the late-inning formula for the A’s, currently on an 11-game winning streak.
“Sometimes when you do take a step back it makes you dig a little harder,” Melvin said. “(2018) was pretty easy for him, and it’s tough to replicate that. But now he’s kind of come full circle back into the role that we like him in.”