OAKLAND -- The A’s didn’t enter Spring Training with many holes to fill on a roster that has most players from last year’s 97-win team returning. So, as the players arrive to the Coliseum for their first workouts of Summer Camp this weekend, the overall objective is clear: Stay healthy.
The common goal of making a World Series run remains in the A’s clubhouse. But before they begin the 60-game regular season on July 23 or 24, keeping everyone injury-free is essential to keeping the dream intact -- a task easier said than done when players who have been itching to get back on the field for three months will have to ramp up over the next three weeks.
“The trick is going to be trying to pull back the reins a little bit here early on in camp,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “You want to stay away from injuries leading up to the season, so that will be the focus in camp. I know we have a lot of guys who feel they can play 60 games. It’s our job to get them to the start of the season healthy.”
Avoiding injuries is especially vital for an A’s starting rotation that is expected to be a strength of the club. But with starters like Frankie Montas throwing regularly in Arizona and Jesus Luzardo and Mike Fiers working out together in Florida during the shutdown, Melvin believes the starting staff should be ready to go at least five innings by Opening Day.
“If we feel like our starters can go out and give us five innings when the season starts, I think we can go with a five-man rotation,” Melvin said, noting that Chris Bassitt could also be in the mix as a potential sixth man. “A lot will be decided here in the next three weeks, depending on how our health is and where pitch counts are. I know we’ve had quite a few of our guys throwing and feeling good. I’ve had a few guys tell me they can go three innings tomorrow. That’s a good sign that they’ve been keeping themselves ready.”
Part of staying healthy plays into the A’s intentions of getting off to a fast start, bucking the trend of past successful A’s clubs, notably in 2018 and '19, that have traditionally started slow before heating up in the second half for a postseason run. With a shortened season, any early slump could derail Oakland's chances at a third straight trip to October. But having most of their positions filled, save for a competition for the starting job at second base, the A’s don’t expect to have to bring in reinforcements as they have at the Trade Deadline in recent years.
“We’re usually a second-half team, but that can’t be the case this year,” Melvin said. “We have to put an emphasis on getting off to a good start and we do feel like this is the group that can get off to a good start. I don’t think there are many adjustments, barring injury, that we look at needing to make.”
Of course, besides avoiding the physical injuries that are possible in camp, the A’s also have to deal with the real-world worry of COVID-19. Once all A’s players convene at the Coliseum on Sunday for full-squad workouts, Melvin plans to impart the seriousness of the virus and how it could affect their season.
“The first message will be how important it is to try and stay in as much of a bubble as we possibly can. Understanding that you’re doing this for the person next to you and staying healthy not just for yourself and your family, but your teammates and their families,” Melvin said. “We have to do the best we can to minimize the virus in our clubhouse, and I think teams that are able to do that and stay healthy will have a leg up on the other teams. We have to take this seriously.”