Oakland A’s opened its Cactus League spring training season on Sunday with a home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The exhibition competition was scheduled to last just seven entries, with no rush for players to try too hard so early in the warm-up process, and the Dodgers won 2-1.
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But, as usual, the classification does not matter in the spring. Instead, let’s take a look at some individual performances, especially from potential customers, unlisted guests and other players in the Opening Day bubble. First are the pitchers, with seven pitchers, each throwing an entry each, and then we’ll see some important players.
Daulton Jefferies
The start was for Daulton Jefferies, # 5 on our Community Prospectus List. He looked sharp, needing only nine pitches for breeze until the first inning.
Jefferies started with a three-shot strikeout by Mookie Betts, swinging on a crazy breaking ball. Corey Seager chased what appeared to be a switch to a routine flyout. Then Austin Barnes protected the board in a 2 to 2 shot and gave up. Along the way (for Strike 2), Barnes chased a different type of broken ball that Betts saw, a harder sliding / cutter hybrid.
Daulton Jefferies on whether there was a small sense of redemption with the first clean inning against LA, after a very bad first inning in Texas last year: “I think a little bit. I gave myself a little fist blow. be present. “
– Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) February 28, 2021
You can’t ask for a better opening than that. Jefferies faced three MLB hitters, took them all out and basically showed off his entire arsenal – in fact, an arsenal even bigger than we expected, with two separate break balls.
James Kaprielian
The second inning brought another potential customer, James Kaprielian, No. 7 on our CPL. He was not as efficient as Jefferies, needing 18 shots, but he was better than his box score suggests.
Kaprielian’s first hitter was AJ Pollock, and he almost froze him for Strike 3 in a nice ball to break, but registered only low; Instead, Pollock flew.
The next was Matt Beaty, who hit a routine grounder for 2B, except that there was a defensive change and 3B Chad Pinder was there; Pinder missed, but it was called a hit. Then Kap put a ball on the ground for the next batter, and receiver Austin Allen let it bounce just long enough for the runner to move forward. The defense was not helping Kap.
It almost cost him, as Edwin Rios took the lead 3-1 and scored a single for the RF, but the defense was redeemed. Buddy Reed made a perfect shot to hit the runner who was trying to score from second place. Then, the A’s field put a free runner in second, but also eliminated it later. A routine flyout ended the picture.
Jordan Weems
The third entry went to Jordan Weems, who had an impressive debut in the MLB last summer and is a promising sleeper for the 2021 bullpen.
Weems got off to a rough start. He allowed a first single and passed the next 1-2 batter, but nibbled it and lost it for a walk. Betts then flew deep into RF, but easily stayed in the park for an exit. Reed almost took another outside assist, almost throwing out the runner who was advancing to 3B, but in doing so he let the trail runner reach 2B with only one eliminated.
The next was Seager, who worked a full count and took a loop to the shallow center for an RBI single, although the runner in 2B did not score. Weems then got rid of it, inducing a double play grounder from Barnes – 2B Tony Kemp initially swung the ball, but recovered and gave a nice shake to put the 4-6-3 into action.
Dany Jimenez
On Wednesday, we took our first look at Dany Jimenez, a choice from the draft of Rule 5. His fastball was difficult but wild, and he threw at least one beautiful break ball. Despite his uneven control, when he fell back 3-0 to a hitter, he responded by throwing a strike when necessary. He only needed nine shots for his inning, although he got away with a mistake that Pollock was unable to take advantage of.
Domingo Acevedo
The 5th gave us a glimpse of Domingo Acevedo, a free player from the secondary league and an unscheduled guest who was already a great chance for the Yankees. The information we need most for him is speed readings, to find out if he is back in his 90s or if he is still under 90, where he will have more problems to succeed. Unfortunately, this data is not yet available.
Acevedo did not have too many problems with the three batters he retired from, but he lost control at one point and took a five-shot hike. Still, he needed only 14 shots for his inning.
Ben Bracewell
The 6th went to Ben Bracewell, 30, a guest who is not part of the squad who is no longer exactly a candidate, but was in the pool of 60 players last summer.
Bracewell finished his inning in just eight shots, thanks to three ground balls. One of them positioned himself, knocking him over and recovering to pick him up and turn the first. So Sheldon Neuse landed a routine grounder for Pete Kozma in 2B, but Kozma retained a mistake. It doesn’t matter, as the skilled field prospect, Nick Allen took the next one to start a 6-4-3 double game.
Argenis Angulo
Finally, the 7th saw Argenis Angulo, another free agent from the minor league. He is billed as having great things and unstable command, but he launched his first two hitters and retired them quickly.
However, veteran slugger Matt Davidson worked for a long time on the baton, and then Angulo threw him up and Davidson slapped the wall for a home run. The final output was a popup, but particularly adventurous due to the wind, and Nick Allen did a good job of keeping it up.
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Put it all together and the A’s pitching team launched seven entries and allowed two runs in five strokes and two walks. They recorded only one strikeout, the game’s first hitter. More important than the results is that no one looked terrible – some were excellent and two others were shaky, but there were no complete breakdowns or long-term loss of control. And without injury.
Hitters
On the other side of the ball, Oakland’s lineup did not have much repercussion. They won six times at the base, and two of them were from the new DH Mitch Moreland, on a solid oppo-liner single and then on a pitch hit. Elvis Andrus he also took a quality walk on his first shot, but was later caught cheating in a double strike-in-out and jog-in-out move. The only other success was a liner for a clean single by Seth Brown, an MLB-ready prospect.
His only race came in the 5th. Mark Canha it started with a walk, and Moreland had his EdP, to put two runners without anyone outside. catcher Austin Allen attacked looking, and then the advanced field prospect Buddy Reed hit a solo in the middle that might have a chance at a killer double rally game. Fortunately Reed has a speed of 70 degrees, so he hit the shot to 1B, and the fielder missed the target in 2B, so the runner was safe there too. Bases loaded, still only one.
The next was Brown, who made enough contact. Their slow helicopter was not enough for the Dodgers’ infield to turn two, so they settled for the 1B exit as the lead runner crossed the board. Tony Kemp took a brilliant walk to keep it running, and then Vimael Machin punctured a jacket to the left side, but 3B secured it for the third exit.
The good: Good morning to Moreland and Brown. It is good to see that Kemp’s blinking eyes are already in full force. And don’t fall asleep with Machin’s 0-for-1 in the box scoring, as it was almost a double score that would give A’s an advantage at the time – a positive data point for a field player fighting for 2B work.
The evil: On the other hand, it was an unforgettable afternoon for the support catcher candidate Austin Allen. He did a double play on his first trip, then hit a great chance on his next time, and also had a surprise on defense. Secondary league free agent Pete Kozma also made a mistake on the field in 2B, which is difficult because his whole goal on the depth chart is to defend the home environment.
The incredible: In good news from Allen, how about the greatest shortstop potential Nick Allen? Our CPL No. 3 made three impressive plays in just three off-bench entries. You can see two of them below, and he also started a clean GIDP after Kozma’s mistake.
Allen also showed something at the base, where he is about the same height as the crouched referee and only slightly taller than the crouched catcher. He hit, but along the way he worked on nine hitting shots.
And of course, we can add Buddy Reed to the Amazing list too, with its great RF launch and its wheels out of the batter’s box.
There were also attacks from potential customers Tyler Soderstrom, Greg Deichmann, and Cody Thomas, although none hit the ball outside the infield.
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In terms of spring opening, this game was perfectly fine. The loss is irrelevant, but we took a look at several throwing perspectives, and two exciting defensive prospects showed their talents. Let’s do it again tomorrow!
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A final note: Cody Thomas was acquired this month in the store he sent Sheldon Neuse for the Dodgers, and they both participated in this game. Thomas entered as a pinch-runner and arrived at 3B, where Neuse was playing defense.