Luzardo cleared to join A’s in camp.
Pitcher had tested positive for COVID-19 and was in isolation
OAKLAND >> Jesús Luzardo has been cleared to join the A’s in camp, but it’s likely that the potential staff ace will begin the season in the bullpen, manager Bob Melvin said Friday.
Luzardo, who tested positive for the coronavirus prior to the A’s July 4 report date, has been in isolation for nearly two weeks. In order to be cleared, Luzardo had to test negative for COVID-19 twice in a span of 24 hours, per Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols.
Luzardo spent the hiatus in Florida working out with a group of players, including A’s righthanded pitcher Mike Fiers. And, even though that state has become a COVID-19 hotspot, Luzardo didn’t anticipate testing positive.
“I was surprised because I was so careful and followed all the rules,” he said.
In isolation, Luzardo anxiously awaited the onset of the symptoms he’d heard so much about over the news, through others’ experiences — yet, nothing came. He had a lot of one-on-ones with God, “I know not a lot of others
are as lucky as I was.”
Luzardo said he talked regularly with Fiers and with A.J. Puk, his former roommate. He caught up with other teammates while playing video games with them. He did a lot of mobility exercises to keep his arm loose, and also to combat boredom.
“As the days went on and I felt good,” Luzardo said, “I could push my body, and it was less about worrying about my health. Obviously, I was taking precautions and tests. But in my mind I was ready to get out there.”
Luzardo threw a 30-pitch bullpen on Friday afternoon, his arm feeling “just like it did right before this (coronavirus) happened.” During the hiatus, Luzardo threw long toss and into a net — sometimes off a mound — in a field near home.
He called Friday “the best day of 2020 for me, by far.”
Even before he was cleared to return, Luzardo was trying to convince Melvin that he needed just one bullpen session before he was ready to face hitters. It’s going to take more than that, just as it’s going to take some work before Luzardo returns to the starting rotation.
“If we’re able to get him up to three innings, I think that’s close enough to be able to put him in the rotation,” Melvin said.
In addition to endurance, there also will be the matter of performance.
Luzardo isn’t a stranger to the bullpen. All seven of his major league appearances came in relief last season. He had 20 strikeouts and a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings of work. Included was a three-inning performance — no runs, one hit, four strikeouts — in the Wild Card game against Tampa Bay.
Luzardo could be a secret weapon in high-leverage situations to start the season.
“I think it’s huge for me, the experience I gained last year out of the bullpen,” Luzardo said.
Expect his electric repertoire to make an impact, no matter how he is utilized through the first few weeks of this 60-game season. The good news is that he’s cleared to start throwing real baseballs in open air after weeks of throwing socks in quarantine. HEIM AND ALLEN: WHO WILL BE THE
BACKUP CATCHER? >> In a short season where experience could bridge communication blunders between a team’s battery, the A’s are without a veteran catcher in the mix. Just 54 big league games have been played among the trio of catchers at A’s camp in Oakland.
Longtime top-three prospect Sean Murphy, 25, will take on starting catcher duties in his rookie year (and, yes, he’s also a ROY candidate) with 26-year-old Austin Allen and 25-year-old Jonah Heim vying for reps as his back-up. Where experience lacks, high ceilings fill the gaps.
“I think we may have the best catching trio in all of baseball, in my opinion,” Heim said. Murphy grew up in the A’s system building a breezy rapport with an important chunk of the rotation — most notably, Luzardo and Puk.
As for Murphy’s backup: Allen has been knocked for his defensive abilities behind the dish, but has the most experience (34 games with the San Diego Padres in 2019) and some notable pop in his bat. Heim is playing ball on the Coliseum grass for the first time during his three seasons in the A’s system — a defensive catcher buoyed by a breakout year at the plate in 2019 — a .310 average, .863 OPS with Las Vegas and Midland. Plus, he’s a switch hitter.
The competition for backup catcher was in a dead heat when spring training 1.0 was shut down. That competition might be a little looser, expect the A’s to carry a catcher on the taxi squad. Allen and Heim, both with minor league options, might allow the A’s to be more flexible with the back-up catcher role.
But, the trio have a little catching up to do in the shortened camp. Heim and Allen in particular are losing at bats while prioritizing work with the pitching staff.
“Obviously catching in camp takes more of a priority than getting at bats, we understand that, we know that,” Heim said. “Time with the velocity machine can help that. We know that working with pitchers is the No. 1 thing to do, so we replace that with cage work.”