Jefferies acclimates to relief pitching
Through his three seasons at Cal and since he joined the A’s organization in 2016, Daulton Jefferies has pitched almost exclusively as a starter.
Since Oakland recalled the right-hander from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 27, Jefferies has worked exclusively out of the bullpen. He put together the best of his four relief outings this month by throwing 31⁄3 shutout innings in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Rangers at the Coliseum.
The rookie said he has been “rolling with” his role as a reliever.
“The more times I can get on the big-league mound and get a feel for things, the more comfortable I’m going to get, the more I can adapt to situations,” Jefferies said. “I feel great and I’m just trying to get my job done.”
Jefferies said he had spoken to fellow reliever Yusmeiro
Petit about making the adjustment from starter to reliever. Jefferies said Petit told him “it took him a year or two to fully adjust to the bullpen life.”
Jefferies made his big-league debut as a starter last year when he allowed five runs in two innings in a 5-2 loss at Texas on Sept. 12. He got his first major-league win this year when he gave up three runs in five innings in an 8-3 decision at Anaheim on Aug. 1.
“He’s just comfortable now,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “When you first get to the big leagues, there are some nerves that are involved, and then once you realize you throw the ball over the plate and your stuff plays, your confidence kind of grows from there.”
Odd double play: Josh Harrison and Starling Marte hit back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the first. After Matt Olson popped to second, Mark Canha hit a fairly low pop-up to the right side.
The umpires did not invoke the infield-fly rule, and the Rangers took advantage. First baseman Nathaniel Lowe fielded the ball on one hop and threw to third baseman Yonny Hernández to force Harrison. Hernández threw to shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa at second to force Marte.
Your typical 3-5-6 double play ended the inning. Melvin said the umps were right in not calling the infield-fly rule.
Chapman out: Third baseman Matt Chapman was sidelined after fouling a ball off his lower left leg Saturday. He has endured three or four foul balls in that general vicinity recently. Melvin said he’s not sure Chapman will be ready to play when the A’s open a six-game road trip at Kansas City on Tuesday night.