Kaprielian eager for clock ‘cat-and-mouse’
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — James Kaprielian threw his live batting practice session Tuesday with a wrinkle: The Oakland Athletics’ starter wore a PitchCom keypad fastened to his glove and, at times, called pitches to catcher Yohel Pozo instead of the other way around.
Kaprielian, returning from shoulder surgery, said calling his own pitches is something he would consider in certain situations, given MLB’s new pitch timer (15 seconds with the bases empty, 20 with runners on). Manager Mark Kotsay said the A’s are “definitely open to” letting their pitchers do that, as long as MLB approves it for the regular season.
“When you throw five pitches like myself, you don’t want to be up there shaking the entire time and not be able to step off,” Kaprielian said. “I personally trust all our catchers here with calling my game … but I think there will be times I might see something I want and call it in early.”
It’s one way, Kaprielian said, that pitchers might be able to use the timer to their advantage and dictate the pace of a game.
Hitters are required to be in the box and alert to the pitcher with eight seconds left on the clock and can call only one timeout per plate appearance. Pitchers such as the Mets’ Max Scherzer have experimented this spring with varying their times to the plate, testing the new rule and how hitters will adjust.
Kaprielian has yet to pitch in a Cactus League game — it should be his next step — but said he plans on “playing some games” with hitters under the clock.
“If we call a pitch quick, a hitter steps in, he’s got eight seconds,” Kaprielian said. “If I’m (set) and I wait until the last second and he calls timeout — now he’s done. I already know what I’m doing in my head. I’ve got my scouting report, I just need to execute it, and I’m going to do it as fast or as slow as I want.
“Maybe the first one, I step on it, it’s 0-1 because he’s not ready to hit. The next one, I hold the ball and he’s stuck with the bat on his shoulder, losing that tempo and rhythm. They (hitters) are really good, so you’ve got to make them uncomfortable.”
Such strategies aside, Kaprielian said: “You still have to be able to throw strikes and get outs, so there’s give and take with that kind of stuff. It’s just a little cat-and-mouse.”
After missing April with an AC shoulder joint injury last season, Kaprielian went 5-9 with a 4.23 ERA in 26 starts, but finished strong in his last four starts, which coincided with his increased use of a sinker along with his four-seam fastball.
Kaprielian said he toyed with a sinker in 2020 at the A’s alternate site but didn’t feel comfortable with it until late last season, when then-A’s pitching analyst Sam Schultz suggested a different grip. Kaprielian used it to especially good effect in a Sept. 21 start against Seattle, throwing seven scoreless innings.
He also throws a sweeping slider and said feedback from hitters and coaches is that the two pitches “tunnel” off each other well — meaning they both follow the same initial trajectory, giving hitters even less time to identify what’s coming. The slider is another pitch Kaprielian tinkered with last year, altering his grip to generate more side-to-side break.
“I was one of those guys who since college never really wanted to change my grips,” Kaprielian said. “So I have to put my ego aside and realize there might be a better grip for me to have success with. I tried it out and had success with it, so now it’s just continuing to try to be consistent with it.”
Kaprielian threw three simulated innings Tuesday, about 45 pitches, and reached 95 mph on his fastball. Despite his delay, the A’s maintain Kaprielian is still a candidate to open the season in their rotation.
Briefly: Shintaro Fujinami showed better command in his second Cactus League outing, allowing one hit and two walks in three innings against the Diamondbacks. Fujinami said his splitter command was iffy, but he struck out three and said through an interpreter “Today, I was more relaxed and tried to not do too much and just be myself.” … Outfielder Seth Brown was scratched from the lineup with “a little bit of soreness in his shoulder,” Kotsay said. … Aledmys Díaz was 3-for-4 with four RBIs in a 9-3 A’s win; the utilityman has played only shortstop in games this spring but said getting reps elsewhere isn’t essential: “At game speed, if you can play shortstop, you can translate that to every other position in the infield.” … Ryan Noda took a third strike from Zac Gallen and appeared to think he’d been quick-pitched, which isn’t allowed under the new pitch-timer rule. Kotsay said Noda was “looking up and making eye contact” but didn’t have “his bat in position” to start a swing. … Catcher Manny Piña (calf soreness) got five at-bats in minor-league camp Tuesday without running the bases and “did fine,” Kotsay said.