Luzardo start up next with A’s bats blazing
What a long wait for Jesús Luzardo — but his firstbig league start, anticipated for more than a year, is finally here.
Luzardo, 22, is among the league’s top rookie pitchers, Oakland’s top lefthanded starter prospect since Gio Gonzalez, or maybe even Barry Zito. On Tuesday, at last, he’ll be on the mound to open a game, facing the Rangers at the Coliseum for the redhot A’s, who have three in a row including an 111 victory Monday night in Seattle.
The A’s also will have one of the Rangers’ alltime nemeses, Khris Davis, rounding into form: Davis belted his first homer of the season Monday and provided an RBI infield single in Oakland’s eightrun fifth, an inning when the A’s sent 14 to the plate and scored all their runs with two outs.
Manager Bob Melvin had been hinting Davis, who opened the season 0for16, could be in a platoon situation until he starts producing, but it might be hard to keep him out against Texas — in 74 games against the Rangers, he has 32 homers and 77 RBIs, his most
against any team.
The man who will be in the spotlight from the getgo, though, will be Luzardo.
“He’s one of the best young pitchers in the game, with topoftherotation ability,” one American League executive said. “A tremendous acquisition for that trade.”
The A’s obtained Luzardo from Washington in the Sean DoolittleRyan Madson trade in 2017, getting reliever Blake Treinen and infielder Sheldon Neuse in the deal. It was a classic trade that helped both teams, with Doolittle helping the Nationals to the World Series title last year. Luzardo is a potential AllStar: He throws hard, his breaking stuff is terrific and he has a keen understanding how to pitch. And he’s still improving. “It seems like every time we see him pitch, he’s getting better,” fellow starter Frankie Montas said. “He’s always learning. He’s always asking questions about pitching. Every time he’s on the mound, I’m excited to watch him pitch. You know he’s going to do something good.”
Scouts are blown away by Luzardo’s command. He throws all his pitches in the zone consistently, and he can get inside on hitters when needed, or bounce one if that’s required. He’s willing to experiment with his stuff, adding and subtracting, and he even picked up an eephus pitch in the minors.
“This guy, bottom line, has an advantage over all the young pitchers we’ve seen because his command is so much better than most kids coming to the big league,” an American League scout said. “Typically, young pitchers are making lots of mistakes. He’s got the potential to throw threeplus pitches, he can repeat his delivery, he’s athletic and he has an idea — a very good baseball IQ. This kid is going to excel.”
What players notice first is Luzardo’s fearlessness. He goes right after opponents, something that was apparent in his firstever spring appearance with Oakland when, borrowed from minorleague camp two years ago, he struck out the Angels’ Mike Trout.
“He’s not afraid of anything. He attacks the hitters,” Montas said. “He uses his fastball and all his pitches in any count. To do that at such a young age, it’s huge.”
Luzardo’s first two appearances this season were out of the bullpen as he worked on getting his pitch count up after a positive coronavirus test cost him most of the July training camp. Last season, he also pitched — very well — in relief in September.
“Even last year I didn’t get a true start until the back end of the year in TripleA,” said Luzardo, who was expected to be in Oakland’s rotation last year until a shoulder injury sidelined him late in the spring. “It’s been a while for me. I’m definitely excited to get back out there as a starter.”
Luzardo’s time in the bullpen will be helpful, he believes; he pitched in some highleverage situations, and got in particularly useful experience in the wild card game against the Rays, when he worked three scoreless innings and allowed one hit. He also has learned a lot from wise and unflappable reliever Yusmeiro Petit.
“The experience and mentality I picked up in the bullpen will help me this year and hopefully throughout the rest of my career,” Luzardo said.
The other members of the rotation are thrilled to finally add Luzardo to the group, even if it’s difficult not to envy his skills a bit.
“It’s good to have that kind of talent in the rotation, but I’m always like, ‘Man, when I was 21, 22, did I have that?’ ” Montas said. “It’s fun to watch him, man. It’s fun.”