The Oakland A’s held two intrasquad games this weekend, giving everyone a first look at some of the new players that the A’s acquired this offseason. Even though more will be revealed about each player throughout the rest of the Cactus League games that start next week, these short games did give everyone a glimpse of what to expect for this upcoming season. Let’s take a look at the good and the bad of these two games.
During Saturday’s game, ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte stood out as he pitched to right handed batter Carson Blair, left handed hitter Sam Fuld, and switch hitter Andy Parrino. As expected, Venditte pitched left handed to Blair, righty to Fuld, and then chose to pitch right-handed to Parrino. Parrino elected to hit lefty but struck out.
In addition to Venditte’s ambidextrousness, the Oakland A’s defense also stood out. Manager Bob Melvin told the press that he was pleased with the defensive skills that were demonstrated on Saturday. Fuld, Gentry, Brett Lawrie and Marcus Semien all made nice plays at their respected positions, which is a plus since they are all expected to make the Opening Day roster.
Unlike Saturday, Sunday was full of home runs during the intrasquad game. Triple-A player Matt Olson hit a solo homerun to right field while Ben Zobrist hit a two run shot off Arnold Leon.
Additionally, Zobrist showed his versatility by playing in left field for Sunday’s game. He made a great running catch during the game on a line drive by power hitter Billy Butler. It is nice to know that Zobrist can handle left field since Dayan Viciedo, a free agent the Oakland A’s were interested in to add some depth to left, was recently picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Overall, the Oakland A’s players demonstrated their talent throughout these two short games. However, there were some low moments. It was not a great outing for the pitchers on Sunday’s intrasquad game. First, pitcher Leon allowed a two-run home run. Then he hit Mark Canha with a pitch. To make things worse, the next pitcher up, lefty Eury De La Rosa, hit non-roster invitee Jason Pridie in the elbow.
[Oakland A’s: Mills, Chavez, Zito slated for Spring Training starts]
To top it all off, Coco Crisp was absent from both intrasquad games due to a bout of pink eye, the illness he suffered from in 2012 as well. Even though this is not an injury that will keep Crisp out of the game for long, Crisp has been known to be injury prone, so let’s hope this is not a preview of the season to come.
It was great to get a glimpse of the new players during these intrasquad games and fans will be able to get even a better sense of how the Oakland A’s will perform this upcoming season during the Cactus League opener against the San Francisco Giants. So far, the coaches, reporters, and fans are excited about what they are seeing. Even though many were skeptical about all the moves the Oakland A’s made during this offseason, it looks like its going to be an exciting season.
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