GLENDALE, Ariz. - Last year Andrew Triggs was one of an assembly line of starting pitchers the A's ran out to the mound after injuries took their toll.
This spring, Triggs looks ready to assume a more instrumental role. On Wednesday, he stepped up with his best effort of the spring in Oakland's 5-3 victory over the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.
He fared well against a Chicago lineup saturated with left-handed hitters. He commanded his fastball. His curve had bite to it. And with his cutter lacking, Triggs kept hitters off-balance with his changeup and threw five innings of three-hit ball. He gave up two runs, struck out four and didn't issue a walk.
In short, it was everything manager Bob Melvin needed to see as he evaluates whether this late-blooming right-hander is ready for the starting rotation.
"This was his best outing so far," Melvin said. "His best command, sharpest breaking ball. He had good movement on his fastball. Once you're getting out there to 75-80 pitches, you've got a chance to not only evaluate performance, there's endurance involved. Everything."
Triggs, 28, had surrendered six runs in just 3 2/3 innings his last time out against Cleveland. He was much more efficient Wednesday.
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"I felt like I had a pretty good feel for most everything in the arsenal," he said.
Most of Triggs' major league work last season, in his first taste of the bigs, came in relief. If he's to pitch every fifth day in 2017, he needs to show he can retire lefties consistently, and remain effective two and three times through a batting order.
Catcher Stephen Vogt believes Triggs has the repertoire to do that.
"The nice part about a four-pitch mix is very rarely are you gonna have all four on any given night. So if two go away, you've got two more to back it up," Vogt said. "Today his cutter, usually one of his better pitches, wasn't that great. He needed to rely more on the changeup and he did.
"Then he gets those swings and misses with the big breaking ball. It's fun to make the crowd kind of ‘woo.' It's always a good sign."
STOCK RISING: Another pitcher who helped his cause Wednesday was Frankie Montas, who struck out four over two scoreless innings to seal the victory.
"He continues to do what he continues to do," Melvin said. "He's throwing more and more breaking balls too."
In Montas' four outings, he's allowed just one earned run over eight innings for a 1.13 ERA. He's struck out nine and walked one. In light of Melvin saying his bullpen could use a reliever that can handle multiple innings, Montas has positioned himself squarely in the conversation for a 25-man roster spot.
NOTEWORTHY: The A's have collected 10 doubles over their last two games, and Wednesday they jumped ahead with big offense early once again. Ryon Healy went 2-for-3 with an RBI and is hitting .359. Vogt is also swinging it well. He doubled home two runs in the first and is batting .324.
FAMILIAR FACE: : Tyler Ladendorf, who spent the previous seven-plus seasons in the A's organization, entered mid-game at shortstop for the Sox and struck out in his only at-bat. Ladendorf signed with Chicago on a minor league deal earlier this spring.
ODDS AND ENDS: With their 13th victory, the A's (13-10) eclipsed their win total from all of last spring with 11 games still to go. … Sonny Gray (strained lat muscle) felt good a day after playing catch for the first time in two weeks. He was set to do so again Wednesday. … Rajai Davis (1-for-3) scored two runs and notched his fifth stolen base. … Ryan Madson gave up a run in his one inning of work. His ERA is 7.50 through six outings. He's allowed 10 hits over six innings. … Santiago Casilla, in his fourth appearance, threw a scoreless inning with one hit and one walk.
