The Oakland A’s are entering the second week of Cactus League games and we’ve yet to see a good chunk of the current 40-man roster. Regulars are being slowly mixed into the fold this week, with Chris Bassitt’s scheduled start against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday kicking off the first rotation turn this spring.
We’re also a few days closer to seeing some injured players ramp back up.
Jed Lowrie, Sean Murphy, Frankie Montas and Ka’ai Tom are on the doorstep for game action. Here are some answers to questions our readers had about how the team is shaping up — and how they’re feeling about the offseason.
@willybeanes on Twitter asks: Still no chatter on 6 man rotation?
Not really.
Pitching coach Scott Emerson said he isn’t expecting to use a six-man rotation this year. But how the rotation shakes out will hinge primarily on A.J. Puk’s development and Frankie Montas’ progress after his late arrival to spring. Here’s how Emerson explained it:
“We haven’t had any discussions as of now on a six-man rotation, we’ve always thought about five traditional with a sixth guy as an option. As the season goes on, you’re gonna need 10 or eight starters. There’s always room for starters. It’s always good to have some depth. That doesn’t mean one guy can’t be in the bullpen and be a long guy and if something happens, fill the starter rotation.”
There are some logical factors that might indicate a six-man rotation is the way to go. The A’s have six de facto starters on staff: Puk, Montas, Sean Manaea, Jesús Luzardo, Mike Fiers and Chris Bassitt. Some in baseball have wondered if starters may need to limit their pitch counts early in the season to prevent overtaxing after the shortened 60-game season in 2020. A six-man rotation would give pitchers more rest time.
But Emerson said he’s been provided with no qualitative evidence or data suggesting pitchers need to approach this season differently than they would any other 162-game season. He and the A’s staff have monitored their pitchers’ work during the pandemic — they didn’t stop throwing during the bounty of free time they had between seasons. A normal season would have a five-man rotation, throwing one starter/swingman into the bullpen as depth as opposed to squeezing him into a six-man rotation. That’s what’d I’d predict this year. Who that swingman will be, and how he fits into the 26-man roster if they’re carrying 13 pitchers, will be the story to watch. I’m leaning toward Puk in that role.
@mwaxman13 on Twitter asks: Do you have any sense as to whether the supposed lack of investment from ownership (not aggressively pursuing Semien, for instance) has had an effect on the players? Obviously they are saying the right things to the media in public, but do you believe this has affected team morale and long-term expectations?
There’s no way it sits right with the players. And that doesn’t mean they don’t understand why they’re seeing their teammates leave without much of a fight — this is the business — but keeping team leaders in place on a contending team is important for morale.
Marcus Semien and Khris Davis were leaders, but they still have others who remain in Yusmeiro Petit, Matt Chapman and Chad Pinder. In his 10th season as the A’s skipper, Bob Melvin is perhaps the steadiest force on this team. Outside of the A’s revolving door of talent, he’s been a key constant. It probably helped a bit, morale-wise, to see the A’s spring to life just before camp opened and bring in more talent to make this 2021 team perhaps better than the 2020 one.
Truth is, this hits hardest for any star player in this clubhouse as it’s a strong indication that no lucrative extension is on the horizon in Oakland. Even though it doesn’t translate on the field, it can’t feel good for someone like Matt Chapman, who’s become one of the game’s best players, to watch his peers leave for long-term money elsewhere while the A’s are unwilling to even sniff around an extension until shovels are in the ground for a new ballpark. Adding salt to the wound is a wholly uncertain timeline for said ballpark at Howard Terminal.
They’re athletes. They can deal with the business, they can find new leaders and reconnect with old ones. But it paints a dim financial future for some of them.
@JustByFaith777 on Twitter asks: What are the chances we see (Jed) Lowrie, Pinder, and (Tony) Kemp as our everyday players in the middle infield?
I’d say pretty high, and they won’t be restricted to the middle infield. Those three might rotate a bit between left field, second base and designated hitter based on matchup.
Of course I wouldn’t anticipate Lowrie playing any left field. It sounds as if the hope is to have Lowrie get decent time at second base and as designated hitter for certain matchups — health permitting. Lowrie is coming off a knee operation this October and is slated to play his first Cactus League game on Tuesday at second base. Kemp could see time as a platoon option at second base and in left field against right-handed pitching. Pinder the same against left-handed pitching, maybe with some designated hitting mixed in there.