A’s Barreto puts all skills on display in big win over Padres
Barreto, who’s been struggling this season, hits a three-run home run
SAN DIEGO >> Franklin Barreto reminded everyone why he’s still considered the top hitting prospect in the A’s organization.
The second baseman’s flashy combination of speed and power was on display as he finished the day 2 for 5 with a three-run home run in Wednesday’s 12-4 victory over the Padres.
It hasn’t been a pretty season for Barreto. For the first time in his career, he was struggling in the minors only hitting .236 at Triple-A Nashville before getting called up last week to replace the injured Matt Chapman on the roster. Now in his third stint in the big leagues this season after getting called up twice before for only limited action, Barreto said it’s been tough to find any type of rhythm at the plate.
But when he gets in a rhythm like he did Wednesday, Barreto can do some special things, like launch a 3-2 sinker from Joey Lucchesi well up the seats in left-center of spacious Petco Park in his first at-bat and then speed around to reach third base after a couple of throwing errors on a swinging bunt that rolled 15 feet in front of home plate, later scoring on a fly out to right field by Josh Phegley to medium right field.
“He’s got a lot of athleticism and on top of it, for
kind of a small package, he’s got some power,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Barreto. “We’ve seen that before. Get him some consistent at-bats, and he’s got a chance to be a productive guy. He showed why in those first couple of at-bats.”
It’s a bit odd seeing Barreto’s average so low in the minors. In his six years of pro baseball prior to this season, he’s finished with an average at least .276 or above. But this is an adjustment for Barreto. His first two stints in the big leagues this season lasted a couple of weeks each, appearing in five games. Each time he’d get sent back down to Nashville, it was a struggle to readjust to playing every day and get used to the minor league pitching. Even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, the at-bats were mostly uncomfortable.
“It’s difficult after being accustomed to playing every day,” Barreto said. “I’m just starting to get used to what they’re having me do right now, going up and down between the minors and majors, but I have to try to do my job regardless.”
Melvin is trying to get
Barreto as many at-bats as he can this time around, but said there may be times Chad Pinder, a .296 hitter against lefties this season, could play over him at second base, as was the case in Tuesday’s win over the Padres. Going back to AL play today in Chicago, Pinder could also play left field with Khris Davis slotting back as the designated hitter, allowing Barreto to get more consistent time at second base.
“I’m trying to get him as many at-bats as possible. The more he’s gonna be out there the more comfortable he’s gonna be,” Melvin said.
Barreto’s three-run homer in the second was immediately followed up by a solo shot by Phegley. Mark Canha and Matt Olson led off the third by also clubbing backto-back home runs, marking the first time the A’s (38-36) had hit back-to-back home runs in consecutive innings since May 14, 1997 (Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in the third, Matt Stairs and Canseco in the fourth.)
Jed Lowrie crushed a tworun homer to right in the eighth as the A’s matched a season high for home runs in a game with five.