A's bring playoff celebration to sidelined pitcher Sean Manaea

SEATTLE - Throughout the chaos that ensued inside the A's clubhouse for the playoff-clincher - the cans of beer that were being sprayed around like water guns, the champagne that bounced off the plastic curtains - a few A's players decided to take a break from all that for a more intimate special moment.

Blake Treinen gathered teammates Matt Olson and Ryan Buchter, along with bench coach Ryan Christenson, and led them through the tunnel from the clubhouse up the dugout stairs and onto the grass at Safeco Field. The All-Star closer then pulled out his iPhone and FaceTimed a very important member of the A's roster who was unable to watch the team celebrate in person - Sean Manaea.

Currently in Arizona rehabbing from arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum, Manaea had to watch the celebration from afar, so Treinen, his locker mate at the Oakland Coliseum, decided to bring a piece of the celebration to him.

“He's every bit a part of this as we are,” Treinen said. “I wanted to make sure that he got to see the guys a little bit and include him in it because I know how hard that's gotta be to not be here to pop a bottle, especially when he was such a huge part of our success this year.”

After the A's defeated the Mariners 7-3 Monday and went down to the locker room that was already filled with bottles abound waiting to be opened, Manaea couldn't contain himself, jumping up and down in his living room as if he was actually there.

Once Manaea heard his phone ring and saw it was Treinen, the excitement reached another level.

“It meant a lot. I know it's a small gesture, but the fact that they were thinking about me and included me in the celebration says a lot about our team chemistry,” Manaea told Bay Area News Group. “It sucks that I couldn't be there, but I could feel the energy all the way down here in Arizona. I was going nuts. This team is special and this is only the beginning.”

After Opening Day starter Kendall Graveman struggled and was eventually demoted to the minor leagues, Manaea stepped up as the de-facto No. 1 starter.

The left-hander was brilliant early on in the season, tossing a no-hitter against Boston Red Sox as part of a dominant month of April that earned him Co-American League Player of the Month. He went through his ups and downs, but was ultimately putting together a fine season at 12-9 with a 3.59 ERA over 27 starts.

But beyond the statistics Manaea posted, the thing his teammates admired about him was his longevity. Manaea never missed a start all year prior to the season-ending injury suffered on Aug. 26.

In a season when the A's went through 14 different starting pitchers, Manaea was their true iron man.

“He was the only consistent guy that was healthy all year,” Treinen said. “To have someone like him be the mainstay and give us solid innings every night, I don't know if there's really words for it, but it was like a breath of fresh air. We lost so many pitchers to injury early, and he was there for us through the whole ride for the first five months.”

A's manager Bob Melvin watched as Treinen and Co. made the call to Manaea, and was glad his players took it upon themselves to make sure such an integral piece of the club was included in the festivities. Melvin understands how valuable Manaea was, the one guy he was able to trust on the mound every fifth day while trying to piece together the rest of the rotation with duct tape for most of the season.

Though Manaea was not present for the playoff-clinching celebration, Melvin said the A's will make sure Manaea joins the team for the wild-card game, whether it be in Oakland or New York. It's just the right thing to do.

“We all thought about him yesterday,” Melvin said before Tuesday's game. “He's having to go through some things with what he went through. He was a huge part of this team and a guy that you wish was here. It was pretty cool to see the guys reach out to him and get him on FaceTime. There was a big smile on his face.”

Notes

The Oct. 3 AL wild-card game is only a week away, but don't expect the A's to name a starter anytime soon. From Mike Fiers to a possible bullpenning game, Melvin said anything is on the table at this point.

“There's several guys in our rotation we feel like can start that game,” Melvin said. “We understand the bullpen has been a strength and how far you can go with that. I think what we see here coming down the stretch, who's potentially fresher than others coming in and performance going in, it is definitely not decided. I don't even know what our rotation is gonna look like for the Anaheim series, less the wild-card game at this point.”