Graveman gets ball for opener
MESA, Ariz. — As soon as the A’s announced that Sonny Gray would open the season on the disabled list, it was clear that Kendall Graveman would be the Opening Night starter, and manager Bob Melvin made it official Thursday.
“He’s up for it,” Melvin said. “I talked to him about it when Sonny went down and obviously he was concerned for his teammate but excited about the fact he was going to get his first Opening Day start.
“He’s kind of on a mission to be one of those guys who pitches at the top of the rotation for many years to come.”
Graveman said he was humbled by the honor, but he said that once he’s done with that outing, the responsibility moves to the rest of the rotation.
“I told BoMel when he told me this morning, ‘I’m the No. 1 starter for Opening Night, but then whoever is the second guy is the No. 1 starter for us the next night.’ That’s the way we have to go about it to be successful,” Graveman said. “I told (Sean) Manaea and ( Jharel) Cotton, ‘Hey, our No. 1 guy is whoever is on the bump at that moment.’ ”
Graveman, who was acquired from Toronto in the Josh Donaldson trade in November 2014, was the A’s top starter last season when Gray was out with an elbow strain. Graveman finished 10-11 with 4.11 ERA but had stretches in which he was superb, going 9-2 with a 3.33 ERA from May 30 to Aug. 24.
Melvin said that Graveman, 26, will pitch April 3 at the Coliseum against the Angels, and he’ll be followed in the rotation by Manaea, a 25-yearold left-hander, and Cotton, a 25-year-old right-hander who came from the Dodgers last summer in the Josh ReddickRich Hill deal. Melvin said that anytime Manaea starts, “you expect big things, and Jharel as soon as he hit the mound for us, he fit in well and performed really well, which is difficult to do for a younger guy who was pitching in Triple-A with a different organization.”
The A’s are likely to have the youngest April rotation in the majors.
“I see some very determined guys, guys who want to prove some things, guys who have a little chip on their shoulder,” Graveman said. “This is no comparison by any means, but when you had the Big Three (Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito) here, they were young at one point, too. The special part is we have these young guys on the mound, but then very veteran relievers and position player who are going to help this process along.”
The fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are still up for grabs among Andrew Triggs, Jesse Hahn and Raul Alcantara, but Melvin said Thursday that Triggs’ nice outing Wednesday against the Mariners might have given him a leg up — but there is, of course, still a week and a half before the regular season starts.
“It’s going to go back and forth, and Triggs pitched really well” Wednesday, Melvin said. “If you’re handicapping it and we start (the season) tomorrow, he’s probably in a good spot. But we have a few games left.”
Alcantara, who is out of options, started Thursday against the Brewers. He went 51⁄3 innings and allowed five hits, two walks and two runs, both earned, putting his spring ERA at 4.50, best among the three rotation hopefuls. He struck out three.