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Jesus Luzardo

A’s Start Jesus Luzardo Facing Elimination

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The Oakland A’s will send Jesus Luzardo to the hill tonight to try and save their season. Down 2-0 to the Astros, the A’s now need three consecutive wins to advance to the ALCS.

Luzardo gave up 3 earned runs across 3 1/3 innings in game one of the wild card round against the White Sox. The A’s lost that game. Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, manager Bob Melvin isn’t worried about how that tough outing might affect Luzardo. In fact, he’s encouraged by it, saying “I really believe when he has a tough outing, it doesn’t affect his confidence – it’s more of a learning experience for him. We think he’s going to have a good outing for us.”

Not to mention, those White Sox ended the year undefeated against left-handed starters. The Astros haven’t fared quite as well, slashing .232/.299/.403 against lefties as a team. That’s an on-base percentage 19 points worse than against right-handers, notes Slusser.

If Luzardo does get into trouble early, Melvin will likely turn to Yusmeiro Petit or J.B. Wendelken to “clean up any early mess,” per Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle. The only real certainty is that closer Liam Hendriks is going to see action. He could come in earlier than usual, but after not appearing in the first two games, the A’s won’t wait overlong to get perhaps their best reliever into the game.

Hendriks is one of a number of A’s players who will be free agents at the end of the season. Mid-season additions Mike Minor and Tommy La Stella are both heading to free agency, as are Petit, wormkiller T.J. McFarland, outfielder Robbie Grossman, Mike Fiers, Joakim Soria, and star shortstop Marcus Semien. Of that group, Hendriks and Semien are going to be the most difficult for Oakland to bring back simply from a financial demand perspective. With just about one-third of their overall roster heading to free agency, today might be this group’s last opportunity to pull out a big win.

If they do pull of the W tonight, manager Bob Melvin implied that Frankie Montas would get the start in game four, per MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos (via Twitter). On choosing between Luzardo and Montas, Melvin said, “We’re hoping they both pitch. One one day, one the other.” That said, today is a must-win, and they do have Fiers on the roster who could start game four if need be.

Athletics To Activate J.B. Wendelken

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Athletics righty J.B. Wendelken will return from the injured list in time to be included on tomorrow’s postseason roster, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland placed the righty on the injured list over the weekend without specifying a reason. While the vague nature of his placement and his quick return suggest that he was very likely on the Covid-19 injured list, that doesn’t mean Wendelken ever tested positive. Players can be placed on the Covid-19 IL for experiencing symptoms or if they come into contact with someone who previously tested positive.

Wendelken, 27, has quietly emerged as a key member of the Oakland relief corps. He’s racked up 25 innings with a 1.80 ERA and 3.07 FIP in 2020, averaging 11.2 strikeouts, 4.0 walks and 0.72 homers per nine innings along the way. Dating back to the 2018 season, Wendelken has given the Athletics 74 1/3 innings with a 2.30 ERA, a 3.03 FIP and well north of a punchout per inning pitched. This year, Wendelken ranks well above average in fastball velocity, fastball spin, average exit velocity, opponents’ hard-hit rate and expected ERA, per Statcast.

A deep bullpen mix will be crucial against a formidable White Sox lineup that features multiple legitimate MVP candidates in Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson. That duo, plus the presence of Eloy Jimenez, make Wendelken all the more important, as he’s held opposing righties to a .205/.266/.319 slash in his career — including a .175/.226/.246 slash in 2020. Wendelken may well relish the chance to the White Sox, who traded him to Oakland in exchange for Brett Lawrie back in the 2015-16 offseason.

That’s not the only notable bit of pitching news for the A’s today. The club announced on Twitter that rookie left-hander Jesus Luzardo will get the nod to start Game 1 of this week’s Wild Card series against the ChiSox, with right-hander Chris Bassitt lined up to take the hill in Game 2. Bassitt, like Wendelken, will be in line to make his postseason debut against the team that traded him to the Athletics.

Athletics Scratch Frankie Montas

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AUG. 15: Manager Bob Melvin said Montas will throw Saturday and could start Sunday, Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News tweets.

AUG. 14: The Athletics have scratched righty Frankie Montas from his scheduled start this evening. Southpaw Jesus Luzardo will take the ball instead.

Montas is said to be dealing with upper back tightness. It’s not evident at this point how serious the injury is.

It’s disappointing to see Montas hit the shelf given his recent successes on the mound. Over twenty starts dating back to the start of the 2019 season, he owns a sparkling 2.42 over 119 frames.

Minor Injury Notes: Rendon, Luzardo, deGrom

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Anthony Rendon sat out Friday’s game with oblique tightness, per the Angels’ PR department (via Twitter). Rendon is day-to-day. The Angels’ third baseman was remarkably stable during his time with the Nationals, appearing in at least 136 games in five of the last six seasons. His only significant injury time came in 2015 when a sprained knee and quad strain limited him to 80 games. This season, of course, games will come at a premium. Barring a setback, the Angels hope and plan to have Rendon back in the lineup well in time for their July 24th opener against the Oakland Athletics. Let’s take a spin around the league to check in on other minor injuries…

  • MLBTR’s Connor Byrne wrote yesterday about the A’s long-term dream for Jesus Luzardo as a rotation stalwart. But as Byrne noted, after missing time due to the positive coronavirus test, it’s unlikely he will be ready to join the rotation by Opening Day. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter) confirmed as much this morning, as manager Bob Melvin suggested the rotation would be “difficult for him initially.” What that means exactly for Luzardo’s near-term future isn’t totally clear. The A’s could choose to keep him in camp to stretch him out until he is ready to join the rotation. Or they could throw him back into the role he held last season as a multi-inning shutdown artist. Slusser suggests his chances of breaking camp on the roster are good, giving the A’s one heck of a bullpen weapon as the season gets underway.
  • The New York Mets plan to pitch Rick Porcello on Saturday and Corey Oswalt on Sunday, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. That puts ace Jacob deGrom in line for a simulated session to run concurrently with Sunday’s preseason game. DeGrom should then be ready to start the season opener next Friday, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. A back issue flared up for deGrom last week, prompting an MRI, but all appears to be well and deGrom is back on track for Opening Day. With Noah Syndergaard out for the season, deGrom is probably the most important player on the Mets’ roster (which would probably be true even with Syndergaard). DeGrom has won each of the last two NL Cy Young awards, and in a short season, his brand of dominance could go a long way to keeping the Mets’ firmly in contention. One long losing streak could tank the year, but if deGrom is up to his usual antics (read: dominance), he should be as effective a streak stopper as there is in baseball.

 

Jesus Luzardo Cleared To Rejoin Athletics

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Athletics left-hander Jesus Luzardo has been on the shelf since testing positive for the coronavirus July 7, but he has recovered from the illness. Luzardo has been cleared to practice and will rejoin Athletics Summer Camp on Friday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com tweets.

One of the game’s absolute best pitching prospects, health issues have beset Luzardo over the past year-plus. The A’s hoped he’d be a significant contributor last season, but he ended up missing a large portion of it because of rotator cuff and lat problems. Luzardo was able to make his much-anticipated major league debut in September, though, and the down-the-stretch results he recorded were spectacular. The flamethrowing 22-year-old made six appearances from Oakland’s bullpen and put up a 1.50 ERA with 12.00 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9 over 12 innings. He added three more frames of scoreless, one-hit ball with four strikeouts and two walks in the A’s wild-card game loss to the Rays.

From a long-term standpoint, a best-case scenario for Oakland would see Luzardo turn into a front-line starter. As far as this season goes, though, it’s unclear how the A’s will utilize him. Because of the time he missed, pitching coach Scott Emerson suggested this week (via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle) Luzardo could fill a short-inning role, at least initially, saying: “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?”

Assuming Luzardo won’t be in their season-opening rotation, it seems likely the A’s will come out of the gates in 2020 with Mike Fiers, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, A.J. Puk and Chris Bassitt as their starting five.

Jesus Luzardo Tests Positive For Coronavirus

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Athletics left-hander Jesus Luzardo has tested positive for the coronavirus, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). He’ll go into self isolation and need a pair of negative tests, separated by at least 24 hours, before he can return to the team. Fortunately, Luzardo tells Slusser that he’s “feeling good” and “ready to get going” once he receives that pair of negative tests.

There’d been some prior concern about Luzardo and right-hander Mike Fiers, as the two regularly worked out together during the league’s shutdown and had both been absent from camp. Margin Gallegos of MLB.com tweeted earlier that Fiers is back in camp and working out with the club, so it seems he tested negative.

The 22-year-old Luzardo is widely considered to be among the five best pitching prospects in all of baseball and is expected to play a key role in the Oakland rotation both this year and for the foreseeable future. The recent diagnosis and subsequent need to remove himself from A’s Summer Camp could conceivably delay his readiness to start early in the year, though that type of speculation is of course secondary to his overall well-being.

Luzardo made his MLB debut with the A’s last year, tossing 12 innings and allowing just two runs on five hits and three walks with 16 strikeouts. A strained rotator cuff limited Luzardo’s time on the mound in general last season, but he was similarly excellent in 43 minor league innings: 2.51 ERA, 11.9 K/9, 1.7 BB/9. He’s expected to join Fiers, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt and fellow top prospect A.J. Puk in what should be a formidable mix of Oakland starters in 2020.

Transaction Retrospection: A Washington-Oakland Blockbuster

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It has been almost three full years since the Nationals and Athletics swung a noteworthy trade that has already made a big impact and could continue to have a sizable effect in the coming seasons. Leading up to the July 2017 trade deadline, the Nationals acquired relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson in exchange for fellow reliever Blake Treinen and a pair of prospects in left-hander Jesus Luzardo and third baseman Sheldon Neuse.

It was a bold strike for the Nationals, then way ahead of their competition in the NL East but aiming to patch up a poor bullpen. Doolittle and Madson did indeed continue to put up stellar numbers after the trade, helping the Nationals to a division title. The Nats then bowed out of the playoffs in the NLDS with a five-game defeat at the hands of the Cubs, though Doolittle and Madson were effective in that series.

Unfortunately for Washington, the 2017 campaign was the last good one of Madson’s career. He pitched to a 5.28 ERA over 44 1/3 innings in their uniform in 2018 – a non-playoff effort for the team. With the Nationals mired in mediocrity in late August of that year, they traded him to the Dodgers for righty Andrew Istler. Madson’s struggles continued in LA, and he hasn’t pitched since.

Doolittle, on the other hand, remains a valuable member of Washington’s roster. The southpaw has logged a stingy 2.87 ERA with 10.47 K/9, 1.93 BB/9 and 75 saves in 83 chances across 135 innings in a Nationals uniform. The 33-year-old’s regular-season output in 2019 was somewhat underwhelming, but he made up for it by serving as an instrumental piece in helping the franchise to its first-ever World Series title in the fall. Doolittle combined for 10 1/3 frames of two-run ball in series wins over the Dodgers, Cardinals and Astros. He’ll be a National for at least one more season (if there is one), as they picked up his $6.5MM club option after last year.

Flags fly forever, so in light of Doolittle’s contributions, the Nationals would probably make this trade again. The same goes for the Athletics. Sure, Madson and Doolittle impressed when they were part of the club, but the A’s have benefited quite a bit from selling high on those two. The A’s weren’t in contention when the trade went down, and nor did they make the playoffs that year, but Treinen helped key a postseason return in 2018 with one of the greatest campaigns a reliever has ever put forth. He recorded a ridiculous 0.78 ERA with 38 saves, thereby aiding in a 97-win season for the A’s. They posted the same record en route to another postseason berth last year, though Treinen’s production fell off a cliff, and he lost his job as their closer as a result. He’s now a member of the Dodgers after the A’s non-tendered him over the winter.

While Treinen’s success in Oakland was fleeting, the team could profit from Luzardo’s presence for a long time. Nineteen years old when the trade occurred, Luzardo entered 2017 as Baseball America’s 15th-best Nationals prospect. He’s now one of the premier prospects in all of baseball (BA ranks him ninth) and someone with front-of-the-rotation upside. For Luzardo to realize that potential, though, he’ll have to stay healthy.

Luzardo’s a former Tommy John surgery patient who missed most of last season with rotator cuff and lat troubles, but the results were scintillating when he was able to pitch. He made his major league debut late in the year out of the A’s bullpen and proceeded to fire 12 innings of two-run ball with 16 strikeouts, three walks and just five hits given up. The A’s will obviously hope for that dominance to carry over when he joins their rotation.

Neuse, 25, is not an elite farmhand, but there’s still hope for him to amount to something in the bigs. He had difficulty over his first 61 MLB plate appearances last year, though he was terrific in Triple-A ball, where he batted .317/.389/.550 (126 wRC+) with 27 home runs in 560 PA. MLB.com is bullish on Neuse, rating him sixth in the A’s system and writing that he “could be a big league regular in another organization, but for now looks like a very solid super-utility type whose bat will force its way into the lineup more often than not.”

Assessing this trade now, it looks like a win-win. The Nationals would love to have Luzardo vying for a spot in their already stacked rotation, and they probably wouldn’t mind having Neuse around to push for playing time. But you can’t take away the championship Doolittle helped them win. On the other side, the A’s received an unforgettable season from Treinen and could have one or two long-term contributors in Luzardo and Neuse.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Prospect Faceoff: Gore v. Luzardo

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It’s easy to dream on top prospects. Such players have not only exhibited great play and immense talent, but have been hyped up yet further by those who judge young players for a living. We tend to see the “top-of-the-rotation” (!!!) and ignore the “potential” … with its implicit acknowledgement of a downside scenario.

This is nothing new to MLBTR readers. All fans have tales of prospect heartbreak — the would-be great ones that weren’t. It’s usually not too tough to diagnose where things went wrong after the fact … but how about predicting in advance? Here’s your chance.

Today, we’ll take a brief look at two of the top pitching prospects in baseball — southpaws Jesus Luzardo (Athletics) and MacKenzie Gore (Padres) — and give you a chance to prognosticate.

We should note at the outset that prospect watchers have a clear preference for Gore. But it’s awfully close. Fangraphs ranks Gore third and Luzardo sixth among all prospects. MLB.com has them five and twelve. Baseball Prospectus: five and nine. Baseball America: six and nine.

Then again … Luzardo is the one that has already reached the majors. It was only a brief showing, but he sure did impress. In a dozen innings, he racked up 16 strikeouts while allowing just two earned runs on five hits and three walks. Luzardo generated an excellent 14.6% swinging-strike rate. He pumped 97 mph heat and showed a balanced, four-pitch arsenal. And he did all this at just 21 years of age (he turned 22 at the end of September) in the same season in which he worked back from a shoulder and lat injuries.

There doesn’t seem to be much of a ceiling on Luzardo. You might worry about the health risks, but the A’s were also surely exercising ample caution. Luzardo had already extended to over 100 frames in 2018. And he seems to have come through just fine. He was absurdly dominant in Cactus League action this spring. Luzardo carried a roughly 50 percent groundball rate in his minor-league career, so that’s another strength.

Whereas Luzardo was a third-round pick in 2016, Gore was the third overall choice in the ensuing draft. Does that added pedigree explain the fact that he’s seen as the better prospect? On the health front, Gore has had some blister problems, though like Luzardo he also passed the century mark in innings pitched in his second full professional season.

In terms of track record … well, Gore just hasn’t gone as far quite yet. That’s no surprise: he’s a year younger and a season behind. Gore annihilated High-A hitters last year, working to a ridiculous 1.02 ERA in 15 starts. But he did run into at least some headwind after a promotion to Double-A. Through 21 2/3 innings over five outings, Gore surrendered 4.15 earned runs per nine innings on twenty hits (three of which left the yard) with a 25:8 K/BB ratio.

Prospect watchers are looking at quite a bit more than short-sample results. And they see a future ace in Gore. Though he’s still fine-tuning some of his offerings and doesn’t throw quite as hard as Luzardo, Gore carries a highly promising four-pitch mix and is said to possess exceptional athleticism and command. If he can finish honing those offerings and figure out just how to use them, he could carve up MLB hitters for years to come.

This isn’t exactly the next Trout v. Harper debate. But it’s interesting to look at these two lefties. Luzardo arguably has a smidge more certainty having already shown his stuff at the game’s highest level. Evaluators credit Gore with a bit loftier ceiling, but he has a bit more finishing work left to do.

Which do you think will have the better career?  (Poll link for app users.)

AL West Notes: Luzardo, Sanchez, Gallo, Santana

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Jesus Luzardo’s second Major League appearance resulted in his first career save, as the star Athletics rookie allowed a run on two hits and two walks over three innings of work in Oakland’s 6-1 win over the Rangers today.  Luzardo has tossed three innings in each of his two MLB games, both times coming directly after a starter (Brett Anderson on Wednesday after five innings, and Sean Manaea after six innings today).  Should the A’s reach the postseason, there’s certainly a case that Luzardo could serve as either a multi-inning reliever or even as a proper starter.  “That gives us a little pause for thought about how we potentially might do things down the road,” A’s manager Bob Melvin told reporters, including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.  “Obviously, we have to get there, a lot of work between then and now. But you definitely think of some options, especially with Luzardo coming out of the pen doing what he’s doing.”

More from around the AL West…

  • Aaron Sanchez was scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery last Friday, Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said during his team’s pregame radio show today (hat tip to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).  Somewhat curiously, Luhnow had yet to be informed about any specifics on the procedure, or when Sanchez could potentially be back on the mound.  It was already known that Sanchez wouldn’t pitch again in 2019, though the lack of information regarding the severity of his shoulder issues tends to create some doubt that the right-hander will be ready for the start of the 2020 season.
  • Joey Gallo is aiming to return to the Rangers’ lineup on September 20, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes.  Gallo will spend his last few remaining days on the injured list playing in simulated games and instructional league action, and will be activated prior to the Rangers’ game against the A’s on Friday if all goes well.  Gallo hit .276/.421/.653 with 17 homers over his first 214 plate appearances before a variety of injuries waylaid his dream season.  He missed over three weeks with an oblique problem, and then struggled with wrist issues for the better part of a month before undergoing hamate bone surgery on July 25.
  • Another early-season star will also return to the field before the end of the season, as Domingo Santana is expected to be activated off the IL on Tuesday, MLB.com’s Greg Johns writes.  The Mariners outfielder was (retroactively) placed on the IL due to right elbow inflammation on August 19, after struggling with elbow problems for roughly a month beforehand.  Santana’s injury problems almost perfectly coincide with the All-Star break, as he hit .286/.354/.496 in 399 first-half plate appearances, but then only .131/.240/.250 in 97 PA in the second half.  That July slump was one of the reasons Santana wasn’t dealt at the trade deadline, despite interest from multiple teams.

Athletics Promote Jesus Luzardo

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Sept. 9: The Athletics have formally announced Luzardo’s promotion, adding that they’ve also recalled right-hander Daniel Mengden from Las Vegas. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Luzardo, outfielder Luis Barrera was recalled to the Majors and immediately placed on the 60-day injured list. The 23-year-old Barrera has been out since late June due to a right shoulder issue. He’s yet to play in the Majors but will receive MLB service time for the time he spends on the injured list between now and season’s end.

Sept. 8: The A’s are calling up top prospect Jesus Luzardo, MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos reports (Twitter link).  The star left-hander is expected to join the team on Monday when they begin a series against the Astros.  Another transaction will have to be made before Monday’s game to create space for Luzardo on the 40-man roster.

"<strongIt had been widely expected that Oakland would call on the prized 21-year-old southpaw at some point during the playoff stretch, though had it not been for injuries, Luzardo would almost certainly have made his MLB debut months ago.  Luzardo was sidelined by both a shoulder strain and then a lat strain in the early part of the season, and has only 43 total innings pitched in the minors in 2019.  After a clean bill of health over the last few weeks of Triple-A action, however, Luzardo is finally ready for the Show.

His solid numbers in those four Triple-A outings (3.19 ERA, 4.25 K/BB rate, 9.9 K/9) have done little to quell expectations that Luzardo can provide an immediate help to the Athletics’ pitching mix.  All of Luzardo’s Triple-A appearances came as a starting pitcher, though since the A’s are already using a six-man rotation, it’s more likely that the club will deploy the lefty as a multi-inning weapon out of the bullpen.

Oakland has taking something of a patchwork approach to its pitching situation all season, yet the results have spoken for themselves — both the Athletics’ starters and relievers rank within the top ten in several major statistical categories among all teams.  As the A’s continue to fight for a wild card spot, however, the club wants as many arms as possible on hand given the lack of proven and reliable talent on hand.  For much of the year, the A’s have been playing the waiting game until Sean Manaea, A.J. Puk, and Luzardo have been healthy and ready to contribute.

Though Luzardo hasn’t clocked many innings this season, it has done little to dim his status as one of the sport’s top minor leaguers, as midseason prospect rankings from Baseball America (9th), MLB.com (18th), and Fangraphs (24th) still placed Luzardo very highly on their boards.  Originally a third-round pick for the Nationals in the 2016 draft, Luzardo came to the A’s — along with Blake Treinen and Sheldon Neuse — in the trade that sent Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to Washington July 2017.  Over 195 2/3 frames in the minors, Luzardo has a 2.53 ERA, 5.44 K/BB rate, and 10.8 K/9, while also showing an ability to keep the ball in the park with only an 0.6 HR/9.

It seems likely that Luzardo would have been more than a third-rounder had he not undergone Tommy John surgery during his senior year of high school.  Despite that early surgery, however, Luzardo still generate a lot of heat on his fastball, hitting the 97mph mark during Spring Training and routinely reaching the mid-90’s.  Despite that plus fastball, Baseball America ranks it as only his second-best pitch on the 20-80 scouting scale, as BA’s 60-grade for Luzardo’s heater was topped by a 70-grade changeup.  MLB.com’s scouting report also praises Luzardo’s curveball, which “has improved and is at least above-average, a pitch he adds to and subtracts from at will.”

Assuming good health and a good showing in September (and, the A’s hope, in the playoffs), Luzardo projects to join Oakland’s rotation in 2020.  Veterans Tanner Roark, Homer Bailey, and Brett Anderson are all free agents, paving the way for Manaea, Puk, Mike Fiers, Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt, and Luzardo to all factor into the starting picture for next season.  It’s a relatively inexperienced group with a lot of injury history, though starting pitching certainly looks like it could be a strength for the Athletics going forward, notwithstanding how the team has succeeded despite an uncertain rotation mix over the last two years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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