A’s pitcher Fiers an option to face rival Astros
Oakland A’s right- hander Mike Fiers hasn’t faced the Astros since he went public with comments last offseason that sparked an investigation into Houston’s illegal sign- stealing operation in a cheating scandal that rocked Major League Baseball.
With the teams set to open a best- of-five American League Division Series on Monday at Dodger Stadium, A’s manager Bob Melvin said Oakland hasn’t been protecting Fiers.
The 2020 schedule and the A’s rotation never aligned in a way that would have given the righthander a chance to pitch against his former club.
“It looked funny, but if you go back and look at when we started the season and we didn’t doctor our rotation at all along the way, he just missed them every time,” Melvin said Saturday. “I’m very comfortable saying that because I know we never did anything to our rotation to make him miss the Astros and yes he is definitely a potential (option) for this series.”
Fiers spent three seasons with the Astros and won a World Series title with the club in 2017, but went on the record last offseason to reveal the lengths Houston’s hitters went to in an effort to gain an unfair advantage against opposing clubs.
There’s certainly bad blood between the two teams and particularly between Fiers and his
former Astros teammates who remain with the organization, but Melvin indicated Saturday the A’s never sought to hide Fiers from potential matchups against Houston this season.
Hav ing Fiers appear against the A stros in the regular season likely would have made a playoff showdown less climactic, but the A’s won’t shy away from sending the veteran pitcher to the mound in the ALDS.
“We’ll see how we want to line up our rotation and what that means to the bullpen,” Melvin said. “With five games in a row, we might try to do some things a little different in our bullpen so come tomorrow, we probably look at starters one and two to announce.”
Fiers started Game 3 of the A’s wild card round series against the Chicago White Sox and only lasted 1 2/3 innings before he
turned the game over to the bullpen. The 35-year-old wasn’t sharp, but in a bestof-five series with no days off, the A’s will have their starting pitching depth tested against the Astros and could count on him again.
The A’s could also move Fiers to the bullpen and have him available as a long relief option this week if the club prefers starting
left-hander Sean Manaea or right- hander Frankie Montas earlier in the series. With Chris Bassitt and rookie Jesús Luzardo options to start on Monday and Tuesday of the ALDS against the Astros, Melvin suggested the A’s will wait to see how the first two games unfold before unveiling their pitching plans for the remainder of the series.
Fiers was more consis
tent than Montas during the regular season, but Montas was the A’s best pitcher before back and neck issues hampered his effectiveness. After striking out 13 in his last start of the year and throwing two innings in relief of Fiers on Thursday, Montas could again be a starting option in the ALDS.
“( Montas) was fantastic for a period of time before he had the back and neck thing and then had a tough time finding his rhythm and mechanics and confidence plays into that,” Melvin said. “His last start, he found it again to where we were confident enough to put him in the bullpen in that last game.”
Melvin said the A’s are planning to announce their starters for Game 1 and Game 2 of the ALDS on Sunday. Astros manager Dusty Baker has not revealed his plans for the series, but said Friday that Houston will likely have right-hander Lance McCullers, Jr. start one of the first two games against the A’s.