It took just two pitches and one swing for the J.D. Davis Redemption Tour to begin as the A’s new third baseman smoked a double to the gap in left-center Sunday in his first spring training at-bat for Oakland.
Davis, who signed with the A’s Friday after being unceremoniously released by the Giants earlier in the week, looked comfortable in his green No. 5 Oakland jersey. He handled his only chance at third base and went 1-for-2 while batting sixth against the Chicago White Sox in what ended as a 3-3 spring training tie.
Davis hadn’t played since getting two hits and two RBIs for the Giants on March 4, but he looked in midseason form while unloading on San Jose-born Chicago starter Nick Nastrini’s 1-0 fastball for a double. Davis, who hit .400 with two home runs in 15 at-bats with the Giants, grounded out in his only other at-bat as he played just five innings before getting the rest of the game off.
The A’s salvaged a 3-3 tie when Will Simpson, a 22-year-old first baseman and their No. 30 ranked prospect, launched a solo home run to left to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Chicago had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning when Gavin Sheets homered off A’s reliever Gerardo Reyes.
Oakland starter Alex Wood turned in his finest outing of the spring, going five innings while allowing four hits one earned run, no walks and six strikeouts. Former Cal catcher Korey Lee, a first-round pick of Houston in 2019, homered off Wood in the fifth inning.
Nastrini, 24, who was born in San Jose but grew up in San Diego, threw four shutout innings and lowered his spring ERA to 0.82.
A’s catcher Tyler Soderstrom, whose RBI groundout in the fifth tied the game, was among five cuts by Oakland after the game. Soderstrom, who was battling Carlos Perez and Kyle McCann for the backup spot behind starter Shea Langeliers, was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Oakland also reassigned four non-roster invitees to minor league camp: infielders Max Muncy and Armando Alvarez, and outfielders Daz Cameron and Max Schuemann.
