Opening gambit for A’s
Instead of starter, reliever Hendriks will get the call
NEW YORK — Fittingly, Liam Hendriks wore his cap backward. A reliever is going to start a team’s postseason opener.
A pitcher with no wins in the regular season.
A pitcher cut from the 40-man roster in June who spent two months in the minor leagues.
“Instead of the starter going six and handing it over to the bullpen or going five and handing it over to the bullpen, now we’re just reversing it,” the Athletics’ Australian right-hander said Tuesday, a day ahead of their AL wild-card game against the Yankees.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone made a more conventional choice for his first postseason game as a manager, picking Luis Severino over J.A. Happ and Masahiro Tanaka. Severino created a bullpen night in last year’s wild-card game but not by design, lasting just one out and leaving with a three-run deficit against the Twins in a game the Yankees rallied to win 8-4.
A’s manager Bob Melvin has been scrambling because of injuries to starting pitchers Jharel Cotton, Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Paul Blackburn, Andrew Triggs and Daniel Gossett. Yet, the A’s finished second in the AL West at 97-65, their best record in 16 years, and their relievers went 45-16.
“There’s been a struggle between old-school mentality and sabermetrics, and this is a way to kind of incorporate sabermetrics with effectiveness,” A’s closer Blake Treinen said. “You can’t say going a starter for seven innings is the best way. You can’t say that going an opener is the best way. But this is what’s going to work for us, and we’re going to ride it out.”
Yankees reliever Zach Britton said this new method was unfathomable just five years ago. But the Rays were 46-38 with regular starters this year and 44-34 when opening with relievers.
“I think the data shows that it’s an effective way,” Britton said. “The hitters, they’re not able to get comfortable off a starter. There’s a new guy possibly every time you come to the plate. So it’s a good strategy, and you know why teams are starting to do it, because it’s effective.”
Hendriks has pitched seven shutout innings in his last seven starts, allowing four hits. He calls himself an “opener,” not a starter, and it’s unclear who will follow. The only starter expected to be on the A’s roster Wednesday is Edwin Jackson.
What is clear is Hendriks will be only the fourth pitcher to start a postseason game after a regular season of no wins, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Virgil Trucks started twice for Detroit in the 1945 World Series after returning from World War II and making one regular-season appearance. The Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo returned from a torn knee ligament in 2008 and the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter came back from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2012.
Extra innings: Shortstop Dansby Swanson did not participate in the Braves’ light workout Tuesday and appears to be a long shot to make the roster for its NL Division Series against the Dodgers. Swanson partially tore a ligament in his left hand on a swing against the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard on Sept. 24.