Casilla brings memories, old glove back to S.F.
Still using his old Giants glove, Santiago Casilla returned to his old workplace Thursday and mingled with several of his old employee buddies before Oakland and San Francisco opened a threegame exhibition series at AT&T Park.
“It’s a little hard,” said Casilla, who signed a two-year contract with the A’s in January. “I’ve known the guys for seven years. We played together, we stayed together, we won the World Series three times.
“I understand baseball’s a business. I know sometimes you have to go somewhere else. But I’ll never forget that group.”
Casilla doesn’t know his role yet. He’s one of several A’s relievers with closing experience, and manager Bob Melvin hasn’t announced who’ll close and suggested it’s possible to have two closers.
“We’d like to kind of narrow it down to X here and X there and not be this bullpen-by-committee thing where once you get into the game, no one knows when the phone rings who’s getting up,” Melvin said.
“Will it be one guy who’ll close? Maybe not. A lot of it has to do with availability, too. We might use guys a little more one day and not use him the next day because we are deep, and we have guys with experience closing.”
The others are Ryan Madson (Oakland’s primary closer last season), John Axford and Sean Doolittle. Melvin said he’ll talk with them as a group before bullpen roles become official.
Casilla would prefer to close but said he’s open to any role.
“I love pitching in the ninth. It’s a big difference. There are a lot of emotions. I like it,” said Casilla, adding the eighth has its own challenges. “This is the big leagues. Everybody’s good. There’s no easy out.”
Before the game, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt wanted to know what the reliever would throw him. Casilla joked that he’d throw a fastball only if Belt promised not to hit it into McCovey Cove.
Casilla is still using the glove he wore with the Giants — a black Wilson A2000 with orange lettering — but expects a glove with green lettering shortly to fit his new team’s color combination. Briefly: Right-hander Sonny Gray, shelved with a lat strain, is throwing from 120 feet and is waiting to hear when he can throw off a mound . ... Left fielder Khris Davis (right quadriceps strain) and third baseman Trevor Plouffe (left quadriceps tightness) didn’t play Thursday but could appear Friday. “As long as they’re in there tomorrow, I’ll feel good about it,” Melvin said.