OAKLAND -- Dallas Braden was a punch-line: "All you need to know about the A's rotation is that Dallas Braden is the Opening Day starter."A month into the season, it doesn't seem like such a joke anymore. Although he's got little attention on the injury-ravaged A's, Braden is off to one of the best starts in the American League.
Braden, who starts on Tuesday night against the Angels, has a 2.10 earned run average, second in the league to Zack Greinke.
Braden has been much improved from the pitcher who had a 5.44 ERA over his first 39 big league games over the previous two seasons.
A 25-year-old lefty, Braden said the biggest difference is simply confidence.
"I'm a lot more comfortable in my approach and that it's going to work out there," he said. "I'm not second-guessing myself from pitch-to-pitch. I know it's going to work. You know your stuff is good enough to get guys out here, so trust it."
Braden is perhaps best known for being one of the rare pitchers who has a screwball, but the A's haven't let him throw it in a few years. Otherwise, he's got average velocity, but lots of movement. His changeup is his out pitch.
"Everyone in the world knows I'm going to throw a changeup, but now it's 'when?' and 'where?' It used to be 'He's behind. He's going to throw the changeup.' Now I have a slider I can go to 2-0, 2-1. The confidence in the slider is new."
Braden said he's also stopped trying to go for strikeouts so much, using his cutter to induce contact and get quick outs, especially later in the game.
The result is a pitcher who has been the A's most consistent starter through the season's first month, one of the few players on the team who is actually performing better than expected.
"He's doing a great job," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. "He just looks really confident on the mound and trusts his abilities and his stuff. He's got that bulldog mentality out there. He's not afraid of anybody. He's going to come right at you. 'Here's my best stuff. If you hit it, you hit it.'"
