Manaea getting a grip on new-look slider
MESA, ARIZ. >> Fans beneath the scoreboard in left field at Hohokam Stadium were under assault in the early innings of the A’s 11-5 loss to the Reds. Matt Olson plopped a ball on the berm in his first at-bat, then Ramon Laureano put one in nearly the exact same spot two innings later.
For the A’s, it was just another day with another middle-of-the-order hitter going the other way for a twostrike home run. On Friday, it was Olson who worked a 3-2 count before putting a fastball onto the left-field berm at Hohokam Stadium.
The day before, Matt Chapman homered into the back of the A’s bullpen in right field on a two-strike fastball.
But the left-field berm was hardly the A’s exclusive property.
Left-hander Sean Manaea was cruising before he ran into trouble in the third inning, surrendering three hits and two runs to start the inning. Then, with two outs, Matt Davidson
unleashed on a fastball that landed on the on the other side of the left-center field wall to plate two more.
Manaea struck out six over three innings, including all three batters in the second, but was tagged for four hits and four runs — all coming in the third. He’s allowed at least two runs in all three of his spring starts, but most of the contact Friday was soft and Manaea
said this one felt different — in the best way possible.
“I felt really, really good,” Manaea said. “It’s been a long time since I felt like that. Everything just came out really well today.”
MANAEA TWEAKS HIS SLIDER >> Manaea was firing his fastball at 94 mph in the first inning — and his new slider had the velocity to match. Af- ter he debuted the new grip in Las Vegas last week, Manaea said he’d never thrown a slider 85 mph before. On Friday, the pitch hit 89, including one to induce the first out of the game.
During a bullpen before his last start, pitching coach Scott Emerson suggested Manaea try out a new grip. He told him to take his twoseam grip and rotate it, so his middle and index fingers are perpendicular to the seams, rather than on them.
“It felt really good,” Manaea said. “I just want to continue throwing that. My other one was a little slow. ... This one just feels really good.”
The reworked the grip more closely resembles a cutter — and the extra oomph that comes with it.
“It was crazy,” Manaea said. “The velocity came right away . ... It’s fast with a little movement, rather than big and loopy.”
By adding velocity to mirror a fastball, it only adds de- ception to a pitcher whose delivery is already made for it. The pitch takes a sharp break away from left-handers, while his changeup does the same against righties. It creates a trifecta of deception that makes it a challenge to identify his pitches.
“He’s got the fastball from a funky angle,” bench coach Ryan Christenson said. “He can cut the fastball off that same lane, then throw the changeup that fades away from the hitter out of the same lane, as well, which is a tough mix.”
Maybe, Manaea posited, he could transform the old slider grip into a curveball sometime down the road. TONY KEMP’S TICKET ON THE ROSTER? >> There are at least two areas that give Tony Kemp a leg up on his competition among middle infielders to make the A’s 26-man roster. Realistically, they will only keep two of Kemp, Franklin Barreto, Jorge Mateo and Vimael Machin.
Barreto, 26, has gotten “a couple opportunities the past couple years and really has not seized it,” Melvin said on Monday. He’s out of minorleague options, meaning he would have to pass through waivers if he doesn’t earn a spot on the 26-man roster. Machin, a Rule 5 draft pick, must be offered back to the Cubs if he’s not on Oakland’s MLB roster. There is some more flexibility with Mateo, who could be optioned to Triple-A, but none offer the positional flexibility of Kemp.
Kemp, primarily a second baseman, got the start in left field for the A’s game in Goodyear, going 1 for 3 from the left side of the plate and scoring a run. Barreto led off and played second base, tripling to center field in his second at-bat but also striking out.
“We’re a little left-handed thin, I think, as the roster starts to shake out,” Christenson said. “To have the opportunity to run a lefthanded bat out there is a plus . ... So it’s good to see some versatility from him.”