MESA, Ariz. - Frankie Montas’ fastball has so much zip that Jharel Cotton gets a little self-conscious throwing in the same group with him.
“It’s funny - we throw bullpens together and he goes first and he throws hard and I go after him and I’m like, ‘I can’t keep up with that,’ ” said Cotton, who is Oakland’s presumptive fourth starter. “It embarrasses me.”
Montas, 23, came over with Cotton and minor-league pitcher Grant Holmes last summer, acquired from the Dodgers in exchange for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, but Montas didn’t pitch in the minors for the A’s because he was recovering from two different ribcage injuries.