Struggling Graveman takes loss hard
A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman took Saturday’s 9-3 loss to the Astros extra hard. Amid a round of questions after surrendering six runs on nine hits and failing to reach five innings for the third time in four starts, Graveman took the blame. “That game’s on me,” he said. As most reporters exited Graveman’s locker area, he turned around and tried to hide his frustrations and watery eyes. He spoke under his breath about how he let his teammates down, a 24-year-old rookie who is giving his heart and soul to a game he played his whole life, but is inexperienced at handling this type of failure, especially at the highest level.
Any doubt at all that these guys care?
From a few lockers away, his catcher, Stephen Vogt, walked over and put his arm around Graveman and spent several quiet moments with him, away from the microphones and cameras. It was about consoling a young pitcher, assuring him he’s a key part of a team, that he belongs.
“For everybody in this room, it counts,” Vogt said later. “It’s a sunny day in April. We’ve got a kid who thinks he let his teammates down. He did not. It just shows his character. I’ll go to battle with that kid any day.”
Graveman arrived from Toronto in the Josh Donaldson trade, not the biggest name but certainly no throw-in. The A’s got Brett Lawrie and three prospects. Graveman’s the only one of the three in the big leagues, having earned a spot in the rotation with an eye-popping spring training, featuring a majors-best 0.36 ERA in six starts.
That hasn’t translated to the regular season, where his ERA is 8.27 in four starts. Graveman doesn’t have the command and downward movement he had in spring training. Vogt said it’s a matter of being “a tick off,” trying to make adjustments and over-correcting.
“He’s a hard-working kid,” Vogt said, “and he’s going to be just fine if he can just let himself relax and not over press.”
One positive was a better and more frequent use of his breaking pitches, especially against lefties. It wasn’t enough consolation for Graveman, who said, “It’s one of those things I needed to get the team off to a good start today. At home, tough one last night (loss in 11 innings). It’s something I didn’t do.”
By no means was Graveman the only problem. The offense struggled again (six hits, two in the first six innings), and outfielders Josh Reddick and Cody Ross made errors on catchable flyballs in the seventh inning when the Astros padded the lead with two unearned runs.
The A’s lead the majors with 19 errors, including nine in their past six games. They’re three games below .500 for the first time since July 2012. Lot more issues than one player.
“He still has unbelievable stuff. He’s a great pitcher,” Vogt said of Graveman. “He’s going to turn it around.”