San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A’s Irvin, Giants’ Kapler share respect after time with Philly
A’s lefthander Cole Irvin will face the Giants for the first time in his young career Sunday but is already wellacquainted with their manager.
Irvin debuted in the majors in 2019 with a Phillies team managed by Gabe Kapler, now San Francisco’s skipper. That season was erratic for Irvin, comprising multiple stints and roles for the Phillies, but Kapler offered a positive recollection before Saturday night’s game at Oracle Park.
“Pace, strikethrowing, quality changeup and very, very competitive on the mound,” Kapler said of Irvin. “One of my favorites when we were in Philadelphia together because of his work ethic, his demeanor, positive attitude all the time. But also because of the pitch mix. And really going back to his minorleague days, an excellent strike thrower.”
Irvin has displayed the latter trait in his first season with Oakland. The lefthander has attacked the strike zone early and often. His firstpitch strike percentage of 69.6% was thirdhighest among qualified pitchers entering Saturday and his rate of 1.57 walks per nine innings was sixthlowest.
The approach was especially effective for Irvin during a sixstart stretch beginning in midApril. Over 38 innings, Irvin compiled a 1.89 ERA with 34 strikeouts and six walks. His seven outings since have been rockier — in 381⁄3 IP, Irvin has a 5.17 ERA with 21 strikeouts, seven walks and 52 hits allowed.
Irvin seized a rotation spot out of spring training with little previous starting experience in the majors. A’s manager Bob Melvin said opponents are likely adjusting to Irvin and pointed to his strikethrowing tendencies as a possible crux.
“For a while there he was getting ahead, he was throwing strikes, and now they’re a little more aggressive on him, getting some hits early in the count,” Melvin said. “So therefore (he) might have to be a little bit more precise early in the count to kind of make the adjustment back the other way.”
An extended rotation role eluded Irvin in Philadelphia. He made his first three majorleague outings as a starter in 2019 but after that pitched out of the Phillies’ bullpen. Irvin has said he changed his pitching style as a reliever — using fourseam fastballs and more sliders instead of his previous sinkerchangeup blend — and it affected his confidence. He totaled a 5.83 ERA for the Phillies in 16 outings that season. Still, Irvin spoke highly Saturday of pitching for Kapler.
“Kap always treated me with respect and he treats all his guys with respect,” Irvin said. “I really enjoyed playing for him. … Opportunities are earned and I don’t know if I earned enough opportunities over in Philly. Looking back I might say that it’s not always up to him, decisions on who comes up. He put me in spots in September where I had really good numbers out of the bullpen. He gave me opportunities when I was there. So I’ve always appreciated him for that.”
Irvin remembered correctly. In eight September relief outings that year, he posted a 0.73 ERA. Kapler cited a different game of Irvin’s as one that stood out to him. In his first bullpen outing, Irvin worked 32⁄3 innings at Dodger Stadium in a onerun loss. Irvin recalled pitching without much velocity on his fastball against a strong Dodgers lineup.
“It wasn’t a very solid velo game for me, but I was in and out, up and down,” Irvin said. “I definitely reflect on that one too as like, ‘Hey, when you don’t have much going for you, there’s ways you can battle.’ ”