One Rocky Start Doesn't Dim A's Trivino's Prospects

In need of a bounce-back season, Lou Trivino was hoping for better than the three runs he gave to the Cubs in the Cactus League opener. But he found some positives to fall back on, and he has Bob Melvin's support.

Lou Trivino doesn’t have to worry about earning a spot on the A’s roster, which is a credit to the big year he had with the Athletics two years ago as Oakland’s top setup reliever.

That 8-3 record with a 2.92 ERA and four saves in his rookie season earned a lot of good will from manager Bob Melvin, enough that last year’s fall-off-a-cliff-season, 4-6, 5.25, isn’t a deal breaker in the spring of 2020.

From the first day in camp, Melvin said that it wasn’t a question of Trivino needing to make the roster. The job was his to lose.

That brings us to Saturday’s Cactus League opener against the Cubs in Sloan Park. Trivino, the second pitcher after one scoreless inning from starter A.J. Puk, gave up a home run to the first man he faced, catcher Willson Contreras. Trivino bounced back to get the next two outs, the a single by David Bote, a double from Albert Almora Jr and a two-run single from Kris Bryant led to two more runs.

After a walk to Anthony Rizzo, Trivino’s night was done.

Trivino was surprisingly upbeat, telling the Mesa media scrum in the clubhouse that while he didn’t get the results he wanted, he left the game with some positive feeling.

“I felt like I was finishing pitches,” he said. “Toward the end I got a little tired.”

The A’s won 97 games in 2017 with the help of Trivino and 97 more last year without much input from the right-hander. If Oakland is going to make a run at the American League West title, it’s going to need strong efforts from Trivino.

No one knows this more than the manager,

“Sometimes that second year for a player can be tough,” Melvin said. “That first year came pretty easy for him. I don’t think it’s a stuff thing. It’s just that sometimes mentally it came so easy for you. Then you start to struggle and you start to doubt yourself a little bit.

“I think it’s more between the ears. But going through that will make him better going into the season.”

Melvin said that Trivino could learn from the A’s analytics package, and “he can learn from some of the information we have for him.”

Asked about Trivino’s status, Melvin seemed a little surprised that the reliever’s status was in question.

“I see him on the team at this point,” the manager said. “He’d have to play his way off. I don’t see that happening.”