A.J. Puk showed up to A’s training camp with his shoulder-length hair shorn off and a line ready for any surprised teammates.
“Some people didn’t recognize me,” Puk said. “I told them I was (the player the A’s received) in the (Jorge) Mateo trade.”
Puk hadn’t cut his hair since being drafted by the A’s in 2016 - but any confusion on their part would have dissipated when the 6-foot-7 left-hander toed a mound last week feeling, he said, the better for baseball’s months-long shutdown.
Before spring training came to a halt, Puk had sustained a mild shoulder strain that might have kept him from opening the season in the rotation as the A’s figured to be cautious with the 25-year-old, who had Tommy John surgery in 2018.
During the break, which he spent at home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Puk was able to complete his rehab work, playing catch with his siblings until he returned to throwing off a mound. Puk said he also worked to “clean up” his mechanics - improving his direction toward home plate and raising his arm angle - sending video to pitching coach Scott Emerson and trainers for feedback.
As a result, Puk said, the “pinching sensation” he felt in his shoulder this spring is gone. He also began running more and reported to camp about 10 pounds lighter.
“I think everything’s coming together,” Puk said on a video conference Friday, “and it’s a good spot to be in.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin said Puk, who threw two innings in his first sim game action last week, is on pace with the team’s other starters building up to the July 24 season opener.
Melvin said the A’s were hoping to have full rookie seasons this year from left-handers Puk and Jesús Luzardo, who has yet to be at camp after testing positive for the coronavirus. Puk said the 60-game season could actually be beneficial as he probably would have been on an innings restriction anyway after throwing just 36 2/3 total innings in 2019 returning from Tommy John.
“Now it will be 12 starts - and hopefully some playoff starts, too,” Puk said. “It’s going to be a sprint this year instead of a marathon. It’s going to be exciting.”
As for his new look, Puk said that a couple days before reporting to Oakland he visited a former high school coach who used to cut his hair and: “As the clippers were going on the side of my head, I was like, ‘Take it all off.’” Puk said he cut off at least a foot of hair and left it with his mom to donate. “I had to get rid of it,” Puk said. “I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Melvin, for one, sounded a bit wistful for the longer locks on the tall left-hander.
“I’ve been with Randy Johnson over the years, I kind of liked the similarities,” Melvin said. “But if he likes it, I’m all for it. If it makes him comfortable, completely on board with that.”
Matt Kawahara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @m
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New-look A.J. Puk excited for A’s 60-game ‘sprint’ - San Francisco Chronicle
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