Romanick, A's aiming to lighten pitchers' loads

Feb. 16, 2010
URBAN ARCHIVEGIANTS PAGEGIANTS VIDEOA'S PAGEA'S VIDEOMychael UrbanCSNBayArea.com

PHOENIX -- The A's have a new pitching coach this year in Ron Romanick, a longtime member of the organization who was promoted from bullpen coach in the wake of former pitching coach Curt Young's offseason departure.The A's also have a new throwing routine, which Romanick created after doing some math and looking for a way to lighten his staff's load.Instead of throwing in the bullpen every other day, which is the norm throughout big-league ball early in spring training, Oakland's arms will get two days of rest between side sessions for at least the first two weeks of camp.
"Makes sense to me," said closer Andrew Bailey, who is coming off elbow surgery and is one of several relievers who'll be closely monitored -- i.e., dialed back -- by Romanick and A's manager Bob Geren. "Everyone knows that Romanick knows what he's doing."Geren told reporters Wednesday at Phoenix Municipal Stadium that Bailey and setup men Michael Wuertz and Craig Breslow, all of whom have carried a considerable load over the past couple of years, also will be used more lightly in Cactus League action this spring. Typically, a healthy reliever gets 12-14 spring games under his belt, but the aforementioned trio is scheduled for between eight and 10.RELATED: A's 2010 pitching stats
Wednesday featured the first official workout for A's pitchers and catchers, but many of the pitchers have been in town and throwing side sessions for a week to 10 days.Left-hander Dallas Braden was the standout among the pitchers who threw in the bullpen Wednesday, according to Geren. Fifth-starter candidate Brandon McCarthy also was scheduled to throw, and Thursday's list of pitchers throwing in the 'pen includes lefties Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez.The A's also announced Wednesday that they've made some changes to their upcoming intrasquad-game and workout schedules.Full workouts will be held at Papago Park, the team's minor-league facility up the road from Phoenix Muni, next Monday through Wednesday. They will be the only big-league workouts at Papago, the rest being held at the stadium. Phoenix Muni also will be the site of intrasquad games on three consecutive days next week, starting Thursday, Feb. 24.Follow Mychael on Twitter @MUrbanCSN.