⏩ A’s observations: Olson, Chapman homer after training with virtual reality.
MESA, Ariz — Matt Olson and Matt Chapman each hit a towering home run in his first atbat Sunday. Watching, A’s reliever Jake Diekman drew a connection.
“They were in there (pregame) doing simulation stuff,” Diekman said, “and then 30 minutes later — whack.”
The A’s are trying out a virtual reality tool that allows hitters to simulate live atbats against pitchers, manager Bob Melvin said Sunday. Some MLB teams and players have embraced the practice in recent years. The Dodgers and Mets reportedly were using the technology in 2019 and the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt last season. Melvin said it’s brand new to the A’s.
“Some of the other teams are using it extensively,” Melvin said. “So, just trying to keep up technologywise.”
Diekman described a virtualreality headset that can simulate atbats against specific pitchers. Olson and Chapman hit their firstinning homers on consecutive pitches from Cleveland righthander Adam Plutko. It was Olson’s third Cactus League home run and Chapman’s first.
As a pitcher, Diekman noted the tool’s oneway benefit. He suggested that if a pitcher were to use the headset to face himself, “I feel like you would get some pretty good information.” But he said he hadn’t tried it yet.
“I wish we had an ‘Oculus’ where I could do some pitching to hitting,” Diekman said. “But, hey, whatever. We (pitchers) also win 70% of the time.”
Melvin said he “would agree” there isn’t an equivalent for pitchers. “But anything that benefits our hitters — and if other teams are using it to an advantage, then we should as well,” he said.
⏩ Often the past two seasons, Olson has hit behind Chapman in the A’s lineup, including in 2019 when Chapman hit second in 89 games. Early this spring, Chapman has hit behind Olson. Melvin said the top of the lineup remains in flux.
“I do like Olson and Chapman threefour, and it could happen in reverse,” Melvin said. “Depends a lot on where (Mitch) Moreland is hitting and whether or not we’re trying to maybe stay away from the threebatter minimum. … But I’m comfortable with both of those guys in either spot.”
⏩ Grant Holmes retired all six batters he faced in his second Cactus League start and pointed to better fastball command. “The first outing … I wasn’t necessarily spraying (the fastball), but I was missing away off the plate,” Holmes said. “Today, I felt like I narrowed it in a little more and I hit the corners a little bit better.”
⏩ Diekman said he “threw decent” in his first appearance this spring, walking one batter and striking out two in a scoreless inning. “I need to throw more firstpitch strikes,” Diekman said. “I wish I could have thrown a couple of righties a changeup. I was just in counts where I had to make a pitch and hopefully get an out.”
⏩ Second baseman Jed Lowrie could make his spring debut Tuesday. Lowrie ran the bases at the A’s complex Sunday, which Melvin said was “kind of the last hurdle” in his return from knee surgery. The A’s will make a determination Monday, but Melvin said his “best guess” is Lowrie will be in the lineup Tuesday.
⏩ Reliever Lou Trivino threw two scoreless innings in his first spring appearance. Trivino allowed a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. “I thought his breaking ball was really good,” Melvin said. “In the past, you’ve seen maybe more fastballcutter; his curveball he got a couple of swings and misses and a called strikeout.” ⏩ The A’s hit four home runs in a 94 win over Cleveland in seven innings. Ramón Laureano hit a threerun homer and Logan Davidson, the 2019 firstround pick, legged out an insidetheparker when he hit a drive off the batter’s eye in center field that Cleveland outfielders seemed to think was already a home run.