Graveman eager for debut start
Pitcher’s excellent spring ends with a so-so outing
SAN FRANCISCO — The next time Kendall Graveman takes the mound, he’ll be making his first big league start, as he opens the season as the A’s No. 4 starter.
His final preparations could have gone better Friday against the Giants, but the rookie right-hander fought through some control issues and feels ready for his season to begin.
“It was good to get out there for the last time before the season starts,” Graveman said. “I didn’t pop as many strikes as I wanted to. I didn’t get ahead of as many people as I wanted to, threw a lot of pitches. It was one of those days you just had to go out and battle and try to find a way to put up zeros.”
Graveman lasted only four innings and was tagged for a threerun home run by Buster Posey in the first inning. He walked three batters and threw just 39 strikes among his 75 pitches but allowed only two hits.
Thanks to two errors on infield grounders, none of the runs were earned, and Graveman finished spring with a 0.36 ERA. He gave up just one earned run (four total) in 25 ⁄ innings in his first big league spring training experience.
Even though he could’ve made the assumption, Graveman didn’t get the word until Thursday that he had officially made the rotation. Pitching coach Curt Young, bullpen coach Scott Emerson and manager Bob Melvin met with him to deliver the news that he’ll start Thursday against the Texas Rangers.
“That’ll be something I’m looking forward to, something you’ve dreamed about your whole life,” Graveman said. “I’m definitely ready to pitch in front of our home crowd and ready to get out there and compete once again.”
Graveman, acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Josh Donaldson deal, climbed all the way from Single A to the majors last season when he made five September relief appearances.
“There’s a reason he did it, and it’s because of his maturity,” Melvin said of the 24-year-old’s rapid climb. “When you watch him pitch out there, he’s pretty unemotional. He reads swings really well, he thinks the game really well out there on the mound. When you see him pitch, you don’t think he’s that young.”
It’s unclear if it’ll be Barry Zito’s farewell, but he’ll get a moment in the sun Saturday at O.co Coliseum when the A’s wrap up the exhibition season.
Melvin reiterated his plans to get Zito into Saturday’s game against the Giants. The 2002 A.L. Cy Young winner hasn’t pitched at the Coliseum in an A’s uniform since 2006.
“It would be tough to pitch him more than one inning tomorrow based on it’s only been three days’ rest,” Melvin said. “But we really want to get him in tomorrow, and he wants to get in there. It should be exciting.”
Zito will follow starter Drew Pomeranz and should get a nice ovation from both fan bases at the Coliseum.
The A’s said the surgery on Coco Crisp’s right elbow Friday was a success and the left fielder was resting comfortably at home.
The surgery was performed by team orthopedist Dr. Jon Dickinson in San Francisco, and involved the removal of two loose bodies and cutting away tissue around the elbow joint, according to a team statement.
The A’s hoped to know more about Crisp’s timetable to return after the surgery, but there was no update yet. It’s expected Crisp could miss up to eight weeks.
Jarrod Parker, who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, pitched two innings in a simulated game Thursday and will do the same next week in an intrasquad game in Stockton.
Melvin said Parker recently touched 93 mph on his fastball, and the manager wouldn’t rule out him returning before the All-Star break.
A.J. Griffin, who also missed all of last year with Tommy John surgery, is two to three weeks behind Parker’s schedule, Melvin said.
The A’s were limited to just four hits and snapped their eight-game spring winning streak in the 4-0 loss to the Giants.
It was just the second time this spring the A’s were shut out, and it came after they averaged 8.9 runs per game over their previous 10 games, going 9-0-1.