Oakland Athletics 2016 Preview: Starting Pitcher Kendall Graveman
Oakland Athletics’ starting pitcher Kendall Graveman looks to improve after a rocky 2015 season
Last year, the Oakland Athletics welcomed a lot of young, new faces. This included then-rookie starter Kendall Graveman. Graveman came out of the gates swinging even before the 2015 season began. He impressed in six starts during spring training, accumulating a 0.36 ERA and allowing only four runs in 25.1 innings pitched. His performance during March of 2015 quickly earned him a spot in the A’s starting rotation that year.
Unfortunately, he struggled once the regular season began. In his first month pitching in green and gold, Graveman made four starts and ended April with an 8.27 ERA. Despite showing such promise during spring camp, Graveman struggled so greatly in his first few starts that the Athletics sent him back to Triple-A. Even though this demotion was disappointing for Graveman, it did allow him to mentally refocus.
Graveman came back in late May and performed much better throughout the rest of the season. Even though his year ended early in August due to an oblique strain, Graveman was able to bring his major league ERA down to 4.05 with a 1.42 WHIP. His 6-9 losing record does not reflect the hard work Graveman put in throughout the 2015 season.
2016 should be a better year for this 25-year-old righty. He has fully recovered from his injury and he has one season of MLB experience under his belt. If Graveman can demonstrate the same success he found in spring training of 2015 during this upcoming season, he could move from a backend of the rotation starter to the No. 3 or even No. 2 spot. This could only happen if Rich Hill completely flops and Graveman dramatically improves his secondary pitches.
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Graveman is a sinkerballer through and through. That is his go-to pitch, and fans and coaches are likely to see this continue this upcoming season. However, let’s hope that Graveman has worked on his slider, cutter and changeup this offseason. If he can improve these three pitches – especially the slider and changeup of which he only threw 9.1% and 11.1% of the time respectively in 2015, Graveman could have a solid four-pitch repertoire.
With Graveman fully healthy, it is expected that he earn a spot in the starting rotation for this upcoming season. Since Graveman is still young, many hope that he will continue to grow and learn as this season progresses. 2016 should be better than 2015 for Graveman.
Bold Prediction: Kendall Graveman will slide into the No. 3 spot in the rotation when the injury-prone Jesse Hahn eventually lands on the disabled list or when Rich Hill proves to be an unreliable starter.
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