Minor Gets Sunday's Start for Athletics vs. Giants as Oakland Gets its Postseason Rotation in Order
The A’s have locked up a postseason berth, and while Oakland manager Bob Melvin said the team’s stated goal of winning the American League West has to be achieved before the attention shifts – the A’s come into Saturday with a magic number of two to lock down the West – the team is, in fact, looking forward.
There are nine games left on the A’s schedule, including Saturday, and the A’s waited until Saturday morning to name left-hander Mike Minor as the starter for Sunday’s series finale in the Coliseum against the San Francisco Giants.
The club was holding off to see if Frankie Montas, just back from paternity leave, was going to be ready to pitch this weekend, and the decision was that he wasn’t and that he would start either Tuesday or Wednesday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Melvin said when asked about Montas, “It’s either the first or second day in L.A.”
With his wife, Nicolette, due to give birth, Montas left the team after his last start Sunday in Arlington, Texas against the Rangers.
“He thought when he left that he’d have plenty of time to get there,” Melvin said. “And he got there like 20 minutes before the baby was delivered.”
Montas rejoined the team after the birth of daughter Ellie on Thursday, and if the team had gone on normal rotation, he would have gotten Friday’s start. He’s not getting a start in the Giants series with Minor, who threw a seven-inning, two-hit complete game shutout in Seattle in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader in Seattle, getting the nod instead.
It’s part of Melvin and pitching coach Scott Emerson needing to get their rotation set up heading into the playoffs. The A’s are that rare team with an abundance of starting pitching, and after Monday’s day off, the club will have seven games in six days, meaning there will be a start for each of the six through the end of the season on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Two days later, American League best-of-three series begin with the A’s all but guaranteed to get three games at home. As things stand now, the Astros are the likeliest opponent, with Houston getting the bad news Saturday that former Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, who’d been injured but had been working out with the hope to pitch in the postseason, announcing he’s instead going to have Tommy John surgery and will miss not only the postseason, but all of 2021.
Looking at his own rotation, which includes Chris Bassitt, Mike Fiers, Jesús Luzardo and Sean Manaea in addition to Minor and Montas, Melvin likes what he sees. The season has been up-and-down, but in the last four games, the starters have allowed a total of four runs and have been part of two shutouts.
“We feel good about all of these guys,” Melvin said. “Who we actually use … the opponent has something to do with it. These guys are going to get starts leadup and hopefully we’re in a position where we can do things the way we want to. There’s still some time left for that.”
Montas was the opening day starter, and as such he would seem like a lock to start the postseason. But after putting together a 2-1 record and 1.57 ERA in his first four starts, he’s 1-3 with a 10.80 ERA since. Much of that ERA spike can be attributed to giving up nine earned runs in 1.2 inning in a start against the Diamondbacks, but even with those numbers subtracted, he’s still 1-2 with a 7.36, and he’s probably going to have to show something against the Dodgers to be one of Oakland’s starters in the first round.
And while Minor is coming off one of the best games of his career in those seven innings Monday against the Mariners, it’s just one game – he’d been 0-5 with the Rangers before the A’s traded for him. Oakland is going to want to see some ability to sustain that as the A’s try to settle on a rotation.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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