A's Come Back Against San Diego Padres, Continue Hot Spring Start

On Thursday, the A's unveiled their biggest addition to the roster this offseason, when Luis Severino took the mound for the first time sporting green and gold against the San Diego Padres. The Sacramento-bound Athletics signed the right-hander for three years and $67 million, a franchise record.

He had one blemish in his debut, a solo home run to former A's farmhand Trenton Brooks, but otherwise was terrific. He went the standard two innings for his first start, allowing just one hit and one run while striking out one.

A's manager Mark Kotsay spoke with reporters after the game about Severino's performance, "if you're going to give up homers, let's give them up in spring training. But he did exactly what was expected. He throws that high heater at the top of the zone. It's just good that he felt good and was confident when he came off the mound."

As for Brooks, he may not be well known to A's fans, but he is the answer to part of a Bay Area trivia question: The A's and San Francisco Giants hadn't made a trade involving a player swap since the early 1990's until these two players were moved in 2023. Who were those two players?

Obviously, the first one in Brooks, who was traded for Sean Newcomb after the deadline in 2023. The reason this was allowed is because both players were in the minor leagues. Newcomb had some success with the A's in 2023, but offseason knee surgeries to each of his knees kept him out for the first couple of months of 2024, and he only pitched 10 innings for the A's.

As for the game on Thursday, the A's ended up beating San Diego 6-4, with the green and gold doing most of their damage late in the game against Tom Cosgrove, a left-hander who had a solid 2023 and a rough 2024. He ended up giving up four of the A's five runs in the bottom of the eighth on three hits and a walk while recording just one out.

The big blow in the eighth was a Darell Hernaiz triple with the bases juiced that brought home three, taking it from a 3-3 game to a 6-3 A's lead.

Another big addition for the A's, José Leclerc, followed Severino out of the bullpen and gave up a pair of runs in his inning of work. He allowed a leadoff home run to Forrest Wall in the third, then gave up a double to the next batter, Niko Goodrum. He tagged and went to third on a Luis Arraez fly out, then scored on a Tyler Wade (another former A) single.

Tyler Ferguson worked a clean inning with one strikeout, and Brady Basso continued his solid start to spring with 2.1 scoreless innings, where a walk to Brooks was his only blemish. He also struck out a pair.

Basso has had two outings so far, both against San Diego, and has totaled 4.1 innings pitched, zero hits allowed, one walk, and four strikeouts. Not a bad start at all. He made his MLB debut late in 2024 and held a 4.03 ERA in seven appearances (four starts) and 22.1 innings.

"He's pounding the zone," Kotsay said of Basso. "The breaking ball is a good pitch for him right now. It's fun to watch these young guys that have been in the big leagues a little bit come out here in spring training and really look the part."

He may not necessarily be in the mix for the rotation currently, but he could serve as the long man out of the bullpen if he keeps pitching like this. The A's could use another left-hander down there with just T.J. McFarland firmly slotted into a role at the moment. That, or the club can keep him stretched out and have him be a depth option if/when injuries occur.

The A's are now 4-1 this spring, along with a tie against the Kansas City Royals earlier this week. The one team that has defeated the A's is the Padres, who won the first matchup 10-3. With the win, the A's 4-1 record now sits in third place in the Cactus League, behind just the undefeated Chicago Cubs, and the 6-1 Colorado Rockies. Their lone defeat came at the hands of the A's.