Who will become backup catcher?

3 players vying for No. 2 role with Oakland

MESA, Ariz. — Viewed broadly, the A’s backupcatcher competition is a contrast in strengths.

Austin Allen is a lefthanded hitter with pop who worked with the pitching staff last season. Aramis Garcia a righthandedswinging newcomer with defensive attributes. Carlos Perez is a savvy 30yearold offering bigleague experience on a minorleague deal.

But the competition, one of the few remaining issues in the A’s camp, includes nuance — and significance. Starter Sean Murphy has yet to play in a Cactus League game this spring as he returns from surgery for a collapsed lung. Murphy is slated to debut behind the plate Thursday and the A’s think he can be ready for the season opener. Yet even if Murphy is in the lineup April 1, the A’s could limit his workload early, given his layoff

and the nature of his recovery.

Manager Bob Melvin has said the backup job remains unclaimed but the A’s are unlikely to start the season with three catchers on the roster.

“This probably goes down to the end,” Melvin said.

Garcia, acquired in the Khris DavisElvis Andrus trade last month that also sent catcher Jonah Heim to Texas, quickly impressed the A’s. Garcia was drafted in the second round in 2014 by the Giants as “a hitfirst catcher,” he said, and made defense a priority. Oakland bullpen coach Marcus Jensen, who works with the catchers, said Garcia has “an extremely strong arm” and “his framing numbers are good.”

Garcia, who played in 37 games from the Giants from 2018 through ’19 and missed last season recovering from hiplabrum surgery, has worked on pitch framing with Yasmani Grandal, the White Sox catcher who consistently rates among the majors’ best at that skill. Jensen said pitch framing itself has evolved in the past five or so years.

“It’s essential that you move the ball — kind of oldschool sticking the ball is no longer taught, at least from our standpoint,” Jensen said. “From a fundamental standpoint, you’re always taught in terms of getting underneath the ball to bring the ball up.

“Catchers now, they may show their target in the strike zone, but when they’re relaxing their target, they’re getting well below the strike zone to make sure they’re underneath any pitch so they have the ability to bring it up.”

Per Baseball Savant, Garcia in 2019 converted 53.2% of nonswing pitches into strikes in the area around the strike zone, seventh best among catchers with at least 100 called pitches.

Allen is viewed as a more “hitfirst” option. Notably, however, Allen in 2020 converted 53.7% of those nonswing pitches into strikes — second best of any catcher with 250 called pitches.

Allen spent the first half of the short 2020 season with the A’s, and in 14 games, he hit .194 with one home run before Oakland optioned him to the alternate site and called up Heim. Melvin said the demotion could have been “demoralizing” for Allen: “But I thought he handled it really well.”

“I know the kind of player I am and I know the value I can bring to a team,” Allen said. “You can be down about it or you can get back to work and jump back on the saddle.”

Allen said he has been “finetuning” elements of his hitting and catching. He spent the offseason in Florida and took “a bunch” of live atbats against bigleague pitchers. Defensively, he sent video to Jensen to identify aspects to improve.

“I’ve never felt more comfortable behind the plate, calling games,” Allen said. “This is the best I’ve ever received in my entire life.”

Said Jensen: “He’s kind of had a year to settle into our organization and things we emphasize, get comfortable with pitchers and build relationships. … I think there’s a certain comfort level with some of the physical things. It’s about refining them now.”

Allen and Garcia are on the 40man roster and likely vying for the backup role, though Melvin recently said Perez — a nonroster invitee who has had majorleague time with the Angels, Braves and Rangers — “does stuff that helps you win ballgames.”

“It’s a competition every single day,” Allen said, “but that only makes me better, and it makes the guys around me better, so it’s something we look forward to.”