Petit's no Starter, but You Can't See That From Watching his Summer with Athletics
It’s a measure of just how strange 2020’s Major League Baseball season is likely to be that Yusemeiro Petit has spent the last couple of weeks preparing as if he were a starting pitcher.
Petit is, and remains, a key member of the Oakland bullpen. He hasn’t started more than once in a season since a dozen starts for the Giants back in 2014.
The A’s needs in a 60-game season that is likely to be a mad 60-game, 66-day dash to the playoffs include an all-hands-on-deck attitude, and Petit wouldn’t have it any other way. If the A’s needs are that he pitches three or more innings, then he’ll prepare his arm to deliver in much the way a starter would.
“The key is to be ready mentally,” Petit said in a video conference call over the weekend. “Because when you get on the mound, I’m not picky about if you give me one inning. I’m prepared for three or four innings every time.
So, I’m working as a starter and keeping my arm ready.”
Petit’s ever-ready arm has been one of the lesser-told stories of the A’s back-to-back 97-win seasons of 2018 and 2019.
The first free agent signed by the A’s after a 75-win 2017 left the franchise with three consecutive losing seasons, Petit did anything manager Bob Melvin wanted. In 2018 he threw two or more innings 19 times, finished a dozen games and had 14 holds to go with a 3.00 ERA. Last year he pitched more often, 80 games, the most in the American League, and had a 2.71 ERA. When the A’s needed him most, in the final five weeks of the season, he had a 1.04 ERA in 15 games with two wins and five holds in that stretch.
And now, in a season that begins Friday with starters not stretched out, the need for more quality innings from the relievers is essential for a team driving to the postseason.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he’s getting ready in a fashion that is a bit different this year, with the starters not going as long,” Melvin said. “He’ll be prepared for that. He’s a terrific player not only performance-wise, but also in terms of his work ethic, his personality and the respect he gets in the clubhouse.
“You ask him to do something, and he’s there for you. He’s constantly striving to get better.”
During baseball’s lockdown, Petit’s pursuit of improvement took the form of watching endless hours of video of his 2019 performances. He decided that he might have been tipping his pitchers – although the stats wouldn’t suggest that – and he spent the three-month off time working to fix that.
“Sometimes I was tipping some moves, especially when throwing the fastball,” he said. “So I took (that time) as an advantage and worked on it at my house.”
Specifically, he’s setting up with his glove and the ball behind his right hip, the better to keep it out of the batter’s line of vision for as much time as possible.
The work he’s shown during the A’s summer camp suggest that it’s working.
And in whatever roles he eventually is handed, Petit wants to make it work.
“Petit has the ability to do whatever you ask of him and he’s ready to go. Whatever it takes to win ballgames,” pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “He doesn’t care about his role. When the phone rings, Petit’s ready to go.”
And the A’s are ready to follow his lead.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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