McCarthy working on getting feel for changeup

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Brandon McCarthy felt right at home Thursday pitching on the practice fields of the Oakland A's.

The D-backs right-hander, who spent the past two years pitching for the A's before signing with Arizona in the offseason, threw his second live batting-practice session of the spring.

The D-backs were forced to use the A's practice fields due to the snow that covered their Salt River Fields practice fields.

"I felt good," McCarthy said. "It was just trying to get refreshed after the other day, kind of start ramping up workload. I threw terrible in the bullpen and then once I got out there, I was hitting spots again and remembering what I was doing."

McCarthy's changeup is still a work in progress. He is working on getting more consistent with the pitch since adjusting his grip on it.

"Some good, some bad," he said of the changeups he threw Thursday. "That's kind of the way that journey's going to go until I can get into games and you're actually throwing it in counts that mean something. I'm starting to get a better feel for it and an idea of what I want to do with it. It's just going to be putting all that together in these next five weeks."