First outing a rough one for Manaea
MESA, ARIZ. » The scream came from somewhere beyond the backstop. It was loud and, in some ways, deja vu. The A’s fan had seen enough.
“Get him out of there,” he hollered.
A few batters later, manager Bob Melvin obliged. And just like that, Sean Manaea’s first spring training outing ended much like his final one of 2019 — with an early exit.
Manaea’s first start in Mesa was supposed to signal a new beginning for the 24-year old southpaw after he gave up three home runs, four total earned runs and took the loss in the A’s wild-card game defeat against the Tampa Bay Rays.
For now, the fresh start will have to wait.
After retiring the Milwaukee Brewers’ first three batters,
Manaea was tagged for six runs and six hits in the second inning of the A’s 14-4 loss Monday. He allowed three doubles to the first four batters of the frame, then a pair of home runs. At that point, the yelling fan’s request was granted.
“Results-wise, six runs is six runs and that sucks,” Manaea said. “I just wanted to go out there and throw my slider and get a feel for it, and I think I accomplished that today. It’s a good starting point to work off of. Obviously, (the Brewers) getting hits off of it means I’m not finishing, I’m not throwing to the right locations.”
Obviously, this was Manaea’s first start of spring training. It means nothing. The game had no implications. And no one is looking too deep into Manaea’s outing; but those in green and gold would have enjoyed seeing him exorcise the demons from that October night in Oakland.
“Initially he said, ‘I lost the (wild-card) game.’ We scored one run, he didn’t lose the game,” Melvin said. “Once he got to camp here and once he got a little distance from it in the offseason — and it’s the way it was for all of us, too.” HENDRIKS’ BUSY DAY » Two things really excited Liam Hendriks on Monday afternoon, two main reasons he was grinning at his locker. First of all, he pitched a perfect inning in the third, fanning a pair and flashing impressive velocity, hitting as high as 96 mph.
Oh, yeah, and the A’s closer’s day was practically finished before lunch.
“I get to leave here soon,” Hendriks said, “so that’s good.”
Hendriks’ appearance Monday was his first of this young Cactus League season. He noted some firstgame kinks, most notably a little “discombobulation” between his lower and upper half _ something that went unnoticed by onlookers during his 1-2-3 inning.
The one thing onlookers may have noticed, however, was the slight hesitation Hendriks used before he whipped a 96 mph heater that caught Brewers’ catcher David Freitas looking for an inning-ending strikeout.
The hesitation initially started as a way to keep Hendriks’ from falling forward on the mound. He wanted to maintain his balance, so he began using the hesitation as a mere exercise to emphasize his posture staying back.
“And it kind of grew from there,” Hendriks admitted.
To him, it’s “work in progress” — and the first test came Monday. He said he’s not sure if he’ll implement it during the season, but noted that it could be something he uses on an off-and-on basis.
Added Hendriks: “It would be something that I could add in every now and then if I’m just not feeling great or if I have an opportunity to kind of take advantage of a hole. You can kind of read guys’ swings. Some guys have big leg kicks and you can kind of throw their timing off.” MAKING A CASE » Perhaps there’s no position more up in the air than the battle for the starting second-base job. At the moment, Melvin’s options are abounding. Some of the top candidates include Franklin Barreto, Vimael Machin, Tony Kemp and Jorge Mateo.
On Monday, Mateo manned the position and had a phenomenal allaround day. In the third, Mateo flicked a single into right and then the 6-foot,
192-pound utilityman showed off his speed and swiped second.
In the seventh, fielding a ball up the middle, Mateo covered ground in a hurry, backhanded the tough chopper and threw Chad McClanahan out at first. Of course, no position battle is going to be won in one day — especially if that day is in February -- but, if nothing else, Mateo impressed his skipper on Monday.
“He’s done a nice job,” Melvin said of Mateo. “Like I’ve said before, we’ve seen him play really well here at big-league camp … Last year he didn’t get a ton of at-bats but he impressed. And playing a different position, he made a really nice play today, stole a base, got a hit.
“He’s off to a good start.” INJURY WATCH » The A’s had some concern in the fourth inning when pitching prospect Daulton Jefferies left the game with a bicep injury.
The Cal product was clearly bothered on the mound. He registered just two outs while surrendering three hits and a trio of earned runs.
When Melvin visited the mound midway through the frame, he admitted it was “pretty scary” to watch Jefferies’ reaction to his injury and “see his face.” At the moment, though, Melvin doesn’t know the severity of Jefferies’ injury or have a timetable for when he may pitch next.
Also on the injury front, Melvin said outfielder Stephen Piscotty is still a few days away from making his spring debut as he recovers from a side injury.