A’s Weems ‘earned his way here’
Jordan Weems said his conversion from catcher to pitcher in 2016 in the Red Sox organization was “a leap of faith.”
It was rewarded Sunday, when the hardthrowing righthander landed on the A’s seasonopening roster.
“It was an emotional one, for sure,” Weems said Tuesday of his reaction to receiving the news from A’s manager Bob Melvin. “It’s been a long, tough grind.”
Weems, 27, was drafted as a catcher by the Red Sox in 2011,
but his career stalled due to his hitting. The Red Sox tried him briefly at first base, but thought the 6foot3, 175pounder’s arm and tall, lanky build might be better suited for the mound — despite the fact he didn’t pitch even in high school. This spring, Weems arrived in A’s camp as a nonroster player on a minorleague deal.
His goal, Weems said, was “to show the coaching staff and the guys in that clubhouse that I belong.”
That meant throwing plenty of strikes with a mid to high90s fastball, Weems said, then mixing in his splitfinger fastball and slider “to show them I could strike out some guys, too.” Weems impressed the A’s in the spring and continued to do so when the team reconvened for training camp.
“He earned his way here,” Melvin said this week. “You hear the feedback from the hitters — we can see all we want, see the numbers and the strikeouts and he throws hard, but when you get the feedback from the hitters, it’s impressive (given) where he’s come from.
“He was pretty excited about hearing the results (Sunday). And he should be proud of himself because baseball’s a tough gig, and to switch positions on the fly like that and make it to the big leagues is really impressive.”
On a video call Tuesday, Weems recalled his sudden transition in 2016. He was playing first base with DoubleA Portland (Maine), and hitting .119, when the Red Sox told him they wanted him to pitch. A week later, Weems was back at the Red Sox spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla., throwing off a mound. After two weeks, he was facing live hitters.
In his four seasons as a minorleague pitcher, Weems was 138 with a 3.87 ERA, 208 strikeouts and 104 walks in 200 innings.
Weems said it helped that, as a catcher, he had spent time around pitchers and watched them work on mechanics and grips. That continues now:
Weems said he switched from throwing a changeup to a splitter late last season and asked A’s reliever Joakim Soria about his own grip and use of the pitch.
“I’m behind the eightball with a lot of this stuff,” Weems said. “So I’m trying to learn as much as I can.”
Pitching coach Scott Emerson recently noted Weems’ ability to spot pitches including fastballs in the upper half of the strike zone is “pretty good for a guy who hasn’t done much pitching.” Righthander Daniel Mengden said he didn’t know much about Weems previously, but “he’s a hardworking guy — and he throws the ball hard.”
“It’s one of those things where you work hard and put your mind to something, you can do it,” Mengden said, “and he’s grinded and worked hard and he’s earned himself a spot.”
Melvin said that with Weems, “you can’t help but think about” former A’s reliever Sean Doolittle, who converted from first base in the minors. Weems pointed to Dodgers reliever and former catcher Kenley Jansen as another position playerturnedpitcher. “You just know there’s other guys out there,” he said, “so why can’t I be the same?”
His catching past gives Weems a unique view of some A’s pitchers. In 2013, Weems was teammates with current A’s starter Frankie Montas and reliever J.B. Wendelken at Class A Greenville. Weems smiled when he recalled Montas, then 20: “All he cared about was how hard he threw — so he was a little sporadic back in the day. I always give him a hard time about that.”
Weems and Wendelken go back even further; the Georgia natives played travel ball together as teenagers before being drafted by the Red Sox a year apart, Weems said.
“I caught those guys in Greenville,” Weems said, “and we think it’s pretty funny how now I’m a pitcher and we’re in the same clubhouse doing the same thing.”