In his pre-game press conferences in recent days, A’s manager Bob Melvin has had plenty of opportunities to offer his perspective on the plethora of A’s prospects who’ve appeared in the big league camp with the team this spring. No one has had as good a view of the current crop of prospects as the A’s skipper, and it’s clear that he’s liked what he’s seen…
On what’s impressed him most about young prospects Matt Chapman and Franklin Barreto this spring…
Everything! Really. As comfortable as they are playing in games – usually for younger players…just to be in big league camp should be an honor for them – but to be able to play as much as they have and produce like that? I remember when I was that age, I was just happy to be around, let alone playing in games like that. You can tell when they’re out there in the field, they’re not in awe of anything. They’re very respectful of who they’re playing with and the opportunities that they’re given here this spring, but they’re not scared of it. And both of them have really impressed – they’ve both swung the bat very well. It’s about as impressive a swing out of Barreto as I’ve seen all camp, whether it’s in batting practice or in the game. So they come as advertised. When we talk about younger prospects who are some of the better ones in the game, both these guys definitely are.
On Franklin Barreto’s future defensive prospects…
I think he’s a shortstop. He does like to play the outfield too. But one of the things that we wanted to do was keep him at one position in big league camp. I know he likes center field a little bit. We’ll see where it goes, but once you have a guy you feel can play shortstop, he’d have to play his way off there, and it doesn’t look like he will.
On Chad Pinder’s future defensive prospects…
Pinder’s already played different positions for us and has the ability to play second, short and third. So we look at him to be more versatile than we do Barreto right now. And Pinder even told me that he could play the outfield too. We don’t need him to do it right now. But he’s tried to do everything he can to impress us this camp. You’re talking about the Texas League player of the year. He had a great year last year. I would say he’s someone we’ll move around more than we will Barreto.
On Tyler Ladendorf…
The injuries last year kind of set him back…and then at the end when he came back, he still wasn’t fully healthy yet. I’ve not seen him play better than he’s playing right now. He gives you great versatility. There are guys who give you versatility where they’re maybe not so great at certain positions – that is not the case with him. He can play short, he can play second very well, he can play center field, he can play any of the outfield spots. He’s one of those guys, when you talk about versatility, he does it all very well.
On catcher Bruce Maxwell’s performance this spring…
I was a little worried about him going [to play for Germany in the World Baseball Classic]. He was getting an opportunity to play here and was taking advantage of it. And you know, sometimes when you go away and you’re not here, other guys get some opportunities. But he did well, so we’re looking forward to getting him back and getting him some more opportunities, because he’s another guy who’s taken advantage of the opportunities that he’s had here this camp…He is a guy who has made us look at this thing differently based on what he’s done this camp. You’re always looking to add whatever depth you can at certain positions, and it looked like we were a little short at the catching position. But now we look at him differently, as a potential option for us, which is good to see. He’s a left-hander, he’s got some power, he does a nice job behind the plate, he uses the whole field. So it’s good to know that we have somebody we feel the potential is there, if something happened injury-wise or whatever, that we’d have a guy to draw from – he and Carson Blair.
On pitcher Sean Manaea’s performance this spring…
He’s been pitching well, and making adjustments. Like in the last game, he really didn’t have a breaking ball at all. He came in in relief, which he’s not used to doing, and he basically pitched on fastball/changeup and had success doing it. You find out a lot about yourself when you’re a young kid getting your first taste of big league camp and one of your pitches isn’t working and you’re able to get by and have some success with what is maybe your third-best pitch. Each and every time he’s out there, we get to take a longer look at him and evaluate him and form an opinion on him. And to this point, it’s a very high opinion…He just needs to pitch. He’s very aware of what works for him and what doesn’t. He takes instruction well…and in an organization that’s had a lot of great heads of hair, he’s right up there!
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