Sears’ fastball off, but slider promising
MESA, Ariz. — JP Sears wasn’t pleased with how he located his fastball Thursday in three Cactus League innings against the Cubs, but the Oakland Athletics lefthander did find a positive in the performance of his new slider.
Sears, an A’s rotation candidate, tweaked the slider he threw last year in an attempt to create more horizontal break and make it a better swing-and-miss pitch against lefthanded hitters. He described the change as “a pretty big difference in grip.” Instead of holding his first two fingers close together and tight on the ball, Sears said he’s placing them apart and trying to create more pressure with his middle finger than his index.
The slider Sears threw last season averaged 6.2 inches more of vertical break, and 5.5 inches less of side-to-side movement, than other MLB pitches of similar velocity and release points, per Baseball Savant. Sears said he’s still throwing that pitch this spring to right-handed hitters and calling it a “curveball” to differentiate it from the new “slider,” which he’s throwing only to lefties. He said he might start mixing in the new slider, which is similar to the one thrown by A’s teammate Ken Waldichuk, to right-handed hitters later this spring.
Sears struck out four batters, all lefthanded, in his second spring outing. That included two strikeouts of Cubs first baseman Eric Hosmer on sliders, and Sears generated a double-play groundball from Cody Bellinger with a slider.
“The slider’s definitely analytically a really good pitch,” Sears said. “That’s why I like it a lot. You don’t live or die by analytics, but that’s obviously showing something good. I think it plays really well off my fastball, it kind of looks like a fastball for a long time.
I can throw it with a lot of aggression, so it helps out with that as well.”
Sears did give up five hits and three runs in his three innings and cited poor fastball command. He allowed a two-out, two-run double by Nick Madrigal in the first inning and an RBI single by Ian Happ in the third.
“That’s usually my strength,” Sears said of his fastball, which he threw 57 percent of the time in 17 outings as a rookie last season. “I’m not necessarily too worried about it. But that will probably be an emphasis in the next week or so, trying to dial that in.”
Kaprielian ‘sharp’:
Righthander James Kaprielian, who is returning from offseason surgery on his AC shoulder joint, threw two simulated innings against A’s hitters Thursday, totaling about 30 pitches.
“I feel sharp,” Kaprielian said. “Sinker’s sinking, numbers on the slider are good, changeup feels great.”
Kaprielian sat at 92-95 mph with his fastball but said he is “not really concerned with the velo right now.” He said his shoulder felt good: “No issues. I like the way things are coming along.”
Manager Mark Kotsay said recently the A’s believe Kaprielian has time to build up enough to potentially start the season in the rotation. Kaprielian said he’s “doing everything in my power to be ready,” and his next step will likely be a three-inning sim game.
Briefly: Infield prospect Max Muncy, the A’s 2021 first-round pick, had two hits including an RBI double in a 6-1 loss to the Cubs … The Cubs got aggressive on the bases in the middle innings, going 3 for 4 on stolenbase attempts with lefty relievers Jake Fishman and Sam Moll in the game. “Our guys need to understand that they need to be quicker to the plate, even if they’re lefthanded,” Kotsay said … Kotsay said his main concern so far with the new rules is pitchers not being allowed to step off the mound with the bases empty; hitters can call one timeout in that situation but a pitcher stepping off is charged with a ball. “Late innings, there’s not a lot of opportunity to slow the game down,” Kotsay said. “But that’s just what we have to deal with.” … Ramón Laureano (groin tightness) and Manny Piña (calf soreness) were among the hitters who faced Kaprielian in his live BP.