Athletics' starters Fiers, Luzardo Non-Participants in First Two Days of Workouts
The Oakland Athletics have gone through the first two days of workouts for pitchers and catchers without right-handed starter Mike Fiers and left-handed starter Jesus Luzardo on the field.
Manager Bob Melvin called the status of the two “pending,” and said they hadn’t yet been on the field. The manager couldn’t offer much more information beyond that.
Under HIPA regulations, Major League Baseball teams can’t divulge players’ medical issues without permission of the players.
“There are going to be plenty of these types of things,” Melvin said. “You’re seeing it in other camps to where you can comment on a couple of players whether their tests were delayed or weren’t done right or whatever.”
The tests he referred to are the COVID-19 intake testing results. The A’s learned they had a problem with some of the testing done Friday with the club’s position players because the results were not back within 24 hours because of the Fourth of July holiday. That led to the entire position player group being held out of workouts until at least Monday.
Team protocols call for the A’s players, coaches and staff to be tested every other day during the training camp, the regular season and the postseason.
Melvin said he didn’t anticipate this being a problem as the club starts to put its rotation together. The veteran Fiers and the rookie Luzardo are both key members of that staff.
“Not at this point,” Melvin said when if he anticipated needing to alter the team’s plans going forward. “If it goes on a little longer, maybe. But not at this point.”
General manager David Forst said that if the Friday results came in during the day Sunday the club may have the position players work out Sunday evening. They did not come in, so the first full-team workout is scheduled for Monday
Before the holiday pause, all intake tests done by the club’s medical staff have been evaluated and returned the next day.
“We all know that being flexible and adjusting to the unknowns is going to be part of everything we do this season,” Forst said. “Our players and staff have done an excellent job getting to this point, and they understand that we will get them on the field as soon as we possibly can.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Inside the Athletics on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.