Left-hander Jesús Luzardo’s highly anticipated first major-league start will come Tuesday in Oakland, A’s manager Bob Melvin said.
Luzardo will start the opener of the three-game series against the Rangers at the Coliseum, joining the A’s rotation after debuting late last year in the bullpen and making two relief outings so far this season following a late start to training camp.
In 18 ⅔ total innings with the A’s, the hard-throwing 22-year-old has a 1.45 ERA with 23 strikeouts. He has allowed 10 hits. Luzardo pushed for a rotation spot in spring of 2019 before shoulder and lat injuries delayed his debut until September; this summer, he joined A’s camp late after a positive coronavirus test.
With Luzardo joining the rotation, Daniel Mengden moves to the bullpen. Frankie Montas will start Monday’s series finale at Seattle on regular rest due to Thursday’s off-day, with Luzardo slotting in between Montas and Sean Manaea.
Luzardo threw 67 pitches Wednesday against the Rockies, allowing three runs (one earned) with five strikeouts in 3 ⅔ relief innings. Melvin said Luzardo “felt great” after the outing.
On Fiers: Mike Fiers said he didn’t have an issue with being removed from his first start in the fifth inning after 64 pitches. With two on, no outs and a 5-3 lead, Melvin called on Yusmeiro Petit, who preserved the lead in a win over the Angels.
“Bob’s got to manage all these games like playoff games,” Fiers said. “The fact that I came out of that game with a lead was huge and the way our bullpen is, it’s a very easy choice to just go with those guys right now.”
Fiers said he felt “healthy” and “in command of every pitch” in his first start, when he allowed four runs on seven hits, including a three-run homer by Mike Trout on a 3-0 fastball. It was the first homer of Trout’s career on a 3-0 pitch.
Fiers said he was “maybe a little” surprised Trout swung in the count. “Maybe I just needed to be more careful. Pitching with a five-run lead, I didn’t want to walk him. But he made me pay.”
Rule change: Melvin said he’s “OK with” the agreement by MLB and its players union to hold seven-inning doubleheaders the rest of this season.
“As many games as we’re playing in as few days, it makes some sense,” Melvin said. “You want to try to get these games in and it looks like there’s going to be an abundance of them.”
The move comes as MLB has postponed or rescheduled games due to coronavirus outbreaks and concerns. A joint statement Friday said the change “promotes player health and safety.”
“Things are different, but the schedule itself is different, too” said shortstop Marcus Semien, the A’s union rep. “I think it’s a health and safety protocol that can keep us safe.”
Matt Kawahara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
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August 01, 2020 at 07:51AM
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