Crew’s field turnaround ‘miraculous’
At 8:30 a.m. Monday, the Coliseum field did not look promising. The extensive changeover from the Raiders’ game Sunday to the A’s game Monday, inevitably a trial, was complicated by overnight rain that left a muddy mess.
“When I saw some pictures at 8:30 this morning, I didn’t think we had a chance of playing today,” manager Bob Melvin said. “The rain did not come at the right time . ... But it’s Clay Wood and his group. Somehow they’re able to do it with very little time. I think he got an hour of sleep in his back room. It doesn’t surprise me, but it should — they do a miraculous job.”
Melvin said the job done by Wood, the A’s head groundskeeper, might be the best
he has done. Wood and his staff worked more than 24 hours to ready the field, and while there were some dark patches where the football bleachers sit in center field, and of course the yard markers along the infield and the outfield, the turf appeared to be in good shape.
Ramón Laureano said that the A’s groundskeepers are so good, he can’t tell much difference when playing in the outfield, though the ball picks up a little more speed.
“It’s no big deal,” he said. “It’s for both teams. A shoutout to the grounds crew — it’s good we have them.”
Mark Canha, who started Monday night’s game in center field, said once football starts, “the grass gets hard and matted down. It’s just a hot warning track and the ball takes off, scoots through gaps. You have to play a little deeper to cut balls off. It’s coming in hot, typically. I would guess in September that some balls that are usually singles wind up being doubles. It’s something to keep in mind when you hit a single through the infield, you never know. You know it’s going to be harder to play groundballs.
“It just adds a little spice to the game.”
The A’s like to use the Coliseum to their advantage when possible, so can being prepared for the harder surface provide any edge? “Yeah, maybe,” Canha said. “We know what to expect.”
The good news for the A’s is that there will be no more changeovers in this baseball season — even if they play all the way through the World Series. The Raiders don’t play at the Coliseum again until Nov. 3, thanks to their trip to London. Health news: Mike Fiers saw a doctor Monday for the right arm nerve irritation that knocked him out of Saturday’s game in the second inning and he said everything went well, but he won’t have an MRI exam until Tuesday morning. The A’s starter hopes to throw a bullpen session Tuesday afternoon if cleared.
“He feels pretty good,” Melvin said, saying the hope is the issue is muscular rather than structural. “Hopefully we caught a break as far as that goes.”
Melvin said that the A’s have some flexibility with the rotation with Thursday’s off day; Fiers could be pushed back if need be. “We’re not altering anything until we get all the information,” he said.
The news is potentially less good about outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who is dealing with more ankle soreness as he comes back from a high right ankle sprain. He had been taking batting practice and running on an antigravity treadmill, but Melvin said, “Stephen is still having a tough go of it. He had some ankle soreness the last couple of days, so we’re backing off on where he’s at right now.”
Piscotty had sounded more upbeat when speaking in Texas on Friday, saying he thought there was a definite possibility he could return before the end of the season.
One issue is there are no minorleague teams playing where Piscotty could get atbats, but instructional league games begin in Arizona on Friday and Oakland starters Frankie Montas and Daniel Gossett are both throwing at the team’s minorleague complex in Arizona.
Piscotty’s status will determine whether the A’s can include top prospect Jesús Luzardo in the postseason. Currently, only Gossett’s 60day IL spot is available for a player who was not on the 40man roster by Aug. 31, and catcher Sean Murphy will have to take that. Piscotty’s 10day IL would be the only remaining means for wedging Luzardo onto a playoff roster.