Sean Manaea's hair is in the best shape of its life

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.

Manaea lost a bet last year and had to shave his head. He hasn't cut it since. Had to go up a hat size to fit his hair.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 21, 2016

Manaea's hair basically went from this (bottom right)...

S/o & Good Luck @BABYSMGIRAFFE headin to @Athletics! Sad my roomie is gonna b throwin up zeros on my Rangers #Brother pic.twitter.com/KgUlsYkGLp

— Kyle Bartsch (@KBreezyyyy_) July 28, 2015

to this at the Arizona Fall League in November:

Sean Manaea can rock a Hawaiian shirt, but where is he in @billazbbphotog's AFL Top 10? https://t.co/rAm5XmSDom pic.twitter.com/JkZsgMrz0I

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) November 25, 2015

to this, today:

Sean Manaea has some fantastic hair: pic.twitter.com/aGQRr0FX72

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 21, 2016

Sean Manaea is here, and he has pretty great hair. pic.twitter.com/z4fMafTua5

— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) February 21, 2016

One pitcher who has taken himself out of the running is reliever Ryan Dull, whose hair is in the worst shape of its life:

I hardly recognized Ryan Dull w/out the long locks. He cut his hair short, two days after getting home for offseason. #Athletics

— Joe Stiglich (@JoeStiglichCSN) February 21, 2016

It won't be outfielder Coco Crisp, either:

A photo posted by Coco Crisp (@cococrisp4real) on Feb 13, 2016 at 10:04am PST

Who is left for the best hair in spring camp, then? We're talking strictly the hair on the top of one's head, so no points for whatever John Axford elects to wear on his face in 2016, or for Sean Doolittle's Chewbacca-face.

R.J. Alvarez

R.J. Alvarez still has the flowing locks that Ryan Dull used to enjoy. He has options remaining, so he'll most likely start the year in Triple-A competing to be the next reliever up. 

(Photo credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)

Josh Reddick's pie-throwing hair

While Josh Reddick's hair doesn't have the bounce enjoyed by R.J. Alvarez or the sheer volume enjoyed by Sean Manaea, there is one circumstance where it just looks really good, whenever he throws a pie:

(Photo credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports)

Bryan Anderson

A late re-addition to the spring roster, Bryan Anderson's long mane also functions as a spoiler to let him slow down and throw calmly to first against bunts in front of the plate:

(Photo credit: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Cast your vote!