A’s coach says absent Luzardo is upbeat

Jesús Luzardo remains absent from A’s camp after testing positive for the coronavirus, but the lefthander has been in good spirits, pitching coach Scott Emerson said.

“I’m not the guy really to ask on the health stuff,” Emerson said on a video call Wednesday. “But when we’re talking casually, he’s just excited and ready to go and wanting to get on the field and show everybody who Jesús Luzardo is.”

As for how the A’s would use Luzardo upon his return, Emerson said that’s still undetermined. Luzardo has been doing individual workouts while in isolation. Emerson said, to keep himself in shape and his arm limber. But the A’s will want Luzardo to face hitters in a controlled setting before throwing him into a game — and time is running

short before the July 24 season opener.

The A’s could use Luzardo as a starter on a limited pitch count or in relief initially, Emerson said. Luzardo made six appearances for the A’s last season, all in relief, totaling 12 innings.

“It’s just a matter of when we get him on the team, do we start him two innings or do we use him more in a leverage situation and maybe pick his days that he gets to pitch?” Emerson said. “Or the feeling might be, hey, we’re running out of time right now, let’s pitch him in games that are meaningful and stretch him out that way, and then as the season goes on, we plug him in there as a starter. We really haven’t had that conversation yet because we’re just waiting to get him back first.”

Emerson said he believes Luzardo’s absence won’t “set him back too much because he is athletic, he is young and … he’s keeping himself limber and ready to go.” The A’s, though, will be prudent with the 22yearold.

“This guy’s got a bright future,” Emerson said. “Of course we want him to make a start every fifth day for the next 20 years of his career. But in order to do that, you’re going to have to use your intelligence, your experience as a coach, your experience as an organization and the data.

“Once we get him on the mound, we can look at the data and compare to see where he’s at. And then you make an educated decision on how you go about building him into the mix.”