Bride tries to catch on any way he can
A’s call-up has new skills to offer, including squatting behind plate
Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay noted he had written out a rarity — a fourcatcher lineup.
Sean Murphy was behind the plate, with Stephen Vogt as the designate hitter and Christian Bethancourt at first base. The fourth, in Kotsay’s counting, was Jonah Bride, the latest product of the farm system to debut for the A’s, who started catching just last fall to help ease his path to the majors.
“It was something (the A’s) came to me with just to add more value,” said Bride, an infielder. “And I was willing to do whatever it takes.”
Bride isn’t slated to supplant the other three catchers he joined in the A’s lineup last week in Boston. But he has opportunity elsewhere in the lineup for an Oakland team evaluating new players at certain positions. Bride, 26, is playing third and second base with a chance to earn at-bats. And though Kotsay deems him an emergency catcher, Bride said he’s up for donning his gear to catch bullpen sessions.
A 23rd-round draft pick as a college senior in 2018, Bride faced an uphill climb to reach Oakland. He was nearing the end of an eye-opening 2021 season at Double-A Midland — his .407 on-base percentage led the league — when the A’s presented him with a fairly unusual ask: Try catching to expand a defensive repertoire that included third, first and second base.
“His bat has played, he’s got good hands and a good enough arm,” A’s director of player development Ed Sprague said. “So, it’s a good skill to have.”
The catch: Bride had not caught in a game at any level. He started learning the position at instructional league last fall, after the minor-league season, and got his first game experience playing in the Arizona Fall League.
Catchers spend years honing a craft that involves much more than receiving pitches. Blocking balls in the dirt, calling games and managing pitching staffs are skills in which those who play perhaps baseball’s most physically demanding position take pride.
“I remember when he came up to us and was like, ‘I’m going to try to be a catcher,’ ” said Kyle McCann, a catcher in the A’s minor-league system, at spring camp. “And we were like, ‘I hope you’re ready because it is a lot of work.’ ”
One of the first pitchers Bride recalled receiving at instructional league was Wandisson Charles — a right-hander, currently at Midland, with a big arm and shaky command.
“The other catchers were saying, ‘No, I got it,’ ” Bride said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to learn somehow.’ ”
Initially, McCann said, Bride could handle pitches but needed work “sticking” the ball, or catching it with minimal glove movement to help present the location. “So we were putting him in a better position and making sure his hands were stronger … to frame those pitches,” McCann said.
Off-speed pitches in the dirt were another challenge.
“At first, I wanted to kind of pick it like an infielder,” Bride said. “But now I’m much more comfortable to … not flinch and get your head and chest over it.”
Bride worked with the A’s catchers in camp and started the season at Double-A to get game experience behind the plate. He posted a 1.005 OPS in 19 games before the A’s moved him to Triple-A in May.
“I think it’s a little bit strange,” Sprague said of a player starting to catch at this point in his career, “but I think Jonah’s a good enough athlete with good enough hands — and we weren’t going to shove him back to (A-ball) just to try to learn how to catch, because his bat is so advanced.”
Bride’s bat and hitting approach accelerated his arrival in Oakland. He totaled as many walks as strikeouts (57) while posting an .831 OPS at Midland last year. He went 20-for-51 (.392) in a 14-game stint with Triple-A Las Vegas before the A’s called him up last week.
The A’s need offense. Bride’s arrival coincided with the demotion of Kevin Smith, their primary third baseman the first two months of this season, sent down to Triple-A in a hitting slump. Bride has started four of six games since at third and, on Sunday, slotted into the No. 2 spot in the batting order.
“I like his bat-to-ball skill,” Kotsay said. “He gives a good, competitive at-bat and I thought it was a good time to move up there. We continue to work on (his defense). We’re going to be out early with him. We’re going to work him at multiple positions and hopefully throughout the next three months, make incremental improvements on his abilities.”
Bride’s first week with Oakland was eventful. Defensively, he made a potentially disastrous throwing error late in the series finale at Boston on Thursday — salvaged as the A’s pulled out a 4-3 win — and a highlight-reel diving catch Saturday against the Royals on a pop-up bunt behind the pitcher’s mound. He dashed a K.C. no-hit bid that day with a sixthinning double and is 6-for-20 after six games.
“He’s very selective at the plate, doesn’t chase much,” said Vogt, who saw Bride while on a recent injury rehab stint with Triple-A Las Vegas. “I really like his approach. … Just continue to be himself and grind out at-bats.”
Bride will get a shot at a third-base job in flux since the trade of Matt Chapman this spring to Toronto. Smith (acquired in the Chapman deal), Sheldon Neuse and Matt Davidson all have seen time at third and not been able to make claims to the job stick.
With an opportunity to spend the rest of the season with the A’s, Bride was direct about his expectations for himself. “That’s my goal,” he said. “It was cool to get called up. At the same time, I think I belong here..”