Bob Melvin plans to start Sean Manaea in at least one of Oakland's split-squad days during spring training, he told beat reporters on Saturday. The first of two of those days is March 4, when the A's visit the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields while hosting the Colorado Rockies at HoHoKam Stadium. Manaea is Oakland's top pitching prospect, and while he's not expected to jump from Double-A to the big leagues out of spring training, there's a strong chance the left-hander joins the team midseason.
Perhaps more important, however, will be where he ranks in Oakland's hair competition.