MESA, Ariz. – Almost the first thing A’s minor league pitching coordinator Gil Patterson did after Oakland made A.J. Puk the sixth overall pick in last year’s draft was to set the 6-foot-7 left-hander free.
In high school in Iowa, Puk routinely used a curve as part of a four-pitch selection. When he moved to collegiate ball at Florida, the Gators had him drop the curve. He had a power fastball, decent changeup and slider, and that was enough for the college game. Best to rein him in and have him concentrate on those.
In one of their Patterson’s first conversations with Puk, the lefty mentioned in an off-hand way that he’d thrown a curve way back when.