A's Counting On Newly Seasoned Arms

PHOENIX -- As lefty Brett Anderson burst onto the big-league scene last year, he had all the looks of a No. 1 pitcher in the making, which is why the A's are so excited this year to have him as their No. 3.

The A's were thrilled to see righties Trevor Cahill and Vin Mazzaro and lefty Gio Gonzalez show flashes of brilliance last year, which makes them feel even better about their plan to leave two of them out of this year's rotation.

It's called depth.

Thanks to a 2009 season in which the A's sent a rookie starter to the mound 116 times -- most in the majors since the '98 Marlins -- the club now has a corps of young starters who have logged significant big league innings. In theory, they all should be able to use that experience to be better.

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Also, the addition of Ben Sheets and the re-signing of Justin Duchscherer gives the A's two veteran pitchers at the top of the rotation, forcing the youngsters to fight for jobs rather than getting them by default.

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The A's hope better pitchers competing for fewer jobs is a recipe for success.

"We were in a position last year to use some young talented guys, but we also had no choice," general manager Billy Beane told FanHouse. "I thought they made a lot of progress, but the ideal situation is to have a young guy force his way onto the staff. Also, it provides some depth during the season, which inevitably most teams are going to need. If we are healthy, we'll have depth."

The A's pitching was their strength during 2009's last-place finish, a third consecutive losing season. Their staff ERA of 4.26 ranked third in the American League. Their problem was the offense. This year, the offense may not be much better, but they can reasonably hope to get back onto the right side of .500 because of a young pitching staff that gained Sheets and Duchscherer without losing anyone of significance. (The A's are also adding setup man Joey Devine, back from Tommy John surgery, to a bullpen that led the league with a 3.46 ERA.)

Sheets, 31, is a four-time All-Star, with a career 3.72 ERA. He missed all of last season recovering from elbow surgery. Duchscherer, 32, is a two-time All-Star with a career 3.14 ERA. He also had elbow surgery, and then just when he was about to come back in July, he was diagnosed with depression that cost him the rest of the season. Assuming that both of them make it through spring training to take the top two spots in the rotation, that pushes Anderson back to No. 3.

"It puts Brett in a great situation, where he has the talent to be an ace, but he's not put in the situation where he has to be," Beane said. "By the middle of last year he showed himself to be one of the most talented young starters in the game. I think the sky is the limit for him."

One major league scout said Anderson is "the real deal. He may not be that overpowering guy, but he's going to give you a chance to win every night. ...This kid is special, a solid top-of-the-rotation guy for a long time."

Anderson, who pitched last year at age 21, was 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA after essentially making the jump from Double-A to the majors. Over his final eight starts in August and September, when he could have been wearing down or the league could have been figuring him out, he was at his best. Over that span he had a 2.77 ERA, and he held opponents to a .289 on-base percentage.

Anderson said he learned to use both sides of the plate in the second half. To those who watched him, he simply gained more and more confidence.

"Dominant doesn't even begin to describe some of his outings," said fellow starter Dallas Braden. "There was just an air of confidence that he left with, that I don't think he arrived with."

Braden, 26, who was the default Opening Day starter last year, now slides back to No. 4. A quirky lefty with nasty movement, Braden was 8-9 with a 3.89 ERA last year before a mysterious foot infection cost him the final two months of the season.

The competition this spring is for the No. 5 spot, with the leading candidates being Cahill, Mazzaro and Gonzalez. Cahill started 32 games last year and Mazzaro and Gonzalez each started 17. All three have been considered top prospects, and all three showed why on a few occasions in 2009. None of them were consistent, though.

Cahill, 22, who was Baseball America's No. 11 prospect prior to last season, is a sinkerball pitcher who had trouble burying that pitch when he got ahead in the count. He gave up 27 homers on his way to a 4.63 ERA.

Gonzalez, 24, acquired in the Nick Swisher trade, had trouble keeping his emotions in check on the mound. When things would start to go badly, he'd lose his poise and make it worse. He had several outings at both ends of the spectrum on his way to a 6.24 ERA.

Mazzaro, 23, shot up the A's depth chart with an outstanding 2008 season and joined Anderson and Cahill in what some were calling the A's next version of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. He didn't allow a run in either of his first two starts in the majors, but command issues doomed him to a 5.32 by the time a shoulder injury ended his season.

The good news this year is that the A's may need only one of those three to figure it out. Or, one at a time.

"That's a great thing," pitching coach Curt Young said. "That creates depth. The cliché is you can never have enough pitching. It's a good problem to have."