A new slider could keep Bassitt ahead of the pitching curve
MESA, ARIZ. >> The Oakland A’s stuck it to the Milwaukee Brewers, posting a 9-1 win to their Cactus League record. Now 10 games into spring, Wednesday saw the A’s first regular-season starter take the mound.
Chris Bassitt tossed three innings, gave up one run — a Travis Shaw home run — and struck out two with no walks. But there was more to glean from Bassitt’s outing.
Here are the takeaways. BASSITT'S NEW SLIDER >> New A’s reliever Sergio Romo recently saw a frustrated Bassitt in the back fields and headed over to his new teammate. Bassitt has only recently been incorporating a slider into his mix — he threw it just 2.5% of pitches in 2020 after not throwing it at all previously
in his career — and couldn’t quite find a good grip.
Romo’s been in the league for 13 years. He knows a thing or two about being a teammate — so he offered Bassitt his slider grip, the one of a variation he’s established his career on.
“I said, ‘Dang this is pretty funky but I like it.’ And it’s blossomed from there,” Bassitt said after Wednesday’s game.
As Bassitt tries to perfect the pitch, he’s sought council from Jake Diekman, another slider savant in-house. Diekman improved his slider tremendously in 2020 by adopting a new grip that generated far more strikes than he’d gotten in seasons past. This offseason Diekman is working to improve his slider tilt, so that he can find a consistent delivery without concerning himself too much with spin rate. Bassitt has asked Diekman all about this.
“You name it and I’ve talked to him about it,” Bassitt said. “It’s still a work in progress, but things pop in my head and I’ll text him throughout the day, but yeah. If you can bring it up, I can guarantee I’ve asked him about it.”
Bassitt in 2020 threw the slider 25 times, according to Statcast. But Bassitt hopes that incorporating the pitch more readily into his repertoire will prevent him from falling behind in the count. He had a career year in 2020, posting a 2.29 ERA in 11 starts as he climbed out of swingman purgatory into the ace spot.
“It’s a new look,” Bassitt said. “You always have to be one step ahead of batters in the league, and this is my one step ahead of people. If I put another pitch in hitters’ head, it’s going to be a great thing for me. It’s a pitch that’s definitely going to help me this year.”
A NEW SPRING LOOK >> As the first A’s projected regularseason starter to pitch in a Cactus League game, Bassitt shared thoughts on how the A’s progressed pitchers this spring. Bottom line: He liked pitching more in the back fields against his teammates and spending less time standing around. He hopes it’s permanent.
“We’re doing spring training different than normal, but to be quite honest, I think this spring training is going to change spring trainings forever,” Bassitt said. “Us working in the back field, limited time at the complexes, has benefited everyone to stay healthy. Standing around for four, five hours in years past wasn’t the easiest for your back and legs. A lot of people were stiff coming in the next day. Now the days are super efficient. BoMel (Bob Melvin) and Ryno (bench coach Ryan Christenson) had that mixture going good, but this is dang near perfect.”
In this new system, pitchers can work directly with hitters on their team to get a better sense of how pitches are working and looking — and vice versa. He can ask Chad Pinder, for example, how his slider looks off his fastball from a hitter’s point of view.
“I’m facing Chappy (Chapman), Oly (Olson), Pinder and Jed (Lowrie) and guys like that,” Bassitt said. “In these spring training games, I can’t be like ‘Hey Travis Shaw, what did you see there?’ The days off these guys get, they aren’t getting days off. We’re facing them in the back fields. So they’re getting live ABs versus our guys, but we’re able to communicate backand-forth with what we’re seeing. It’s very beneficial for both sides.”
It also comes with a little more fun and camaraderie.
“I would say there’s a lot more (junk) talk in the back fields, I’ll say that,” Bassitt said.
Pitchers need to face players in different jerseys, though. Coaches say locking into that competitive mindset is one of the crucial elements to a full spring training.
MONTAS, PUK ON TRACK
>> Frankie Montas, who missed the start of camp with COVID-19, and A.J. Puk, rebounding from shoulder surgery, threw two innings each in a simulated game on Tuesday and both emerged unscathed. Puk will pitch in another simulated game on Saturday and could enter game action soon after.
Montas could be back in game action soon after, and looks to be on pace to be in the rotation when the regular season starts on April 1.
“As long as we don’t get any setbacks, I’ll say ya,” Melvin said. “(Montas) was throwing 98 in the simulated game. With all the issues he had, that can effect his endurance. We didn’t see any effects in his last sim game. At this pace, he has a good chance to be in the rotation when the season starts.”
A YOENIS CÉSPEDES REUNION? >> The former A’s outfield phenom is a free agent and holding showcases for interested teams. The A’s were not at the showcases, but Melvin made sure to send Céspedes a text message to let him know why.
“I sent him a message, we’re not in position, unfortunately (to sign him),” Melvin said Wednesday. “But man, I really believe whoever picks him up, he’s going to help them. When he’s motivated, he’s as an electric player I’ve had.”
RUN FEST AT HOHOKAM
>> The A’s scored nine runs on Wednesday. Two of those were solo blasts off Josh Hader — one from prospective backup catcher Austin Allen and the other from Ramón Laureano.
New addition Mitch Moreland went 2 for 3 with an RBI double. Vimael Machín had a two-run single.
Olson pinch hit for Chapman and collected a bloop double and a walk. Olson has a 1.890 OPS this spring so far.
WHERE’S MIKE FIERS? >> The A’s don’t have a set starter for Sunday’s game after Sean Manaea takes the ball on Saturday. It won’t be Mike Fiers, who’s dealing with a slight back ache, Melvin said. The A’s are moving slow with his return. And there’s no word yet on who starts that game.