A's Puk Off to a Quick Start With Spotlight on Him

Athletics' rookie left-hander A.J. Puk, projected to have a big rookie season, has a dominant first outing, including a wicked strikeout of Cubs' Kris Bryant

When a rookie player, say A’s left-handed starter A.J. Puk, has limited big league experience, it’s hard to figure just what they can bring to the equation.

That’s the way it used to be, anyway. Now, thanks to FanGraphs.com and other advanced statistical tools, it’s becoming a little easier.

A’s fans can look at the 6-foot-7 Puk and his 2-0 record with a 3.18 ERA in 10 games out of the bullpen last year and can feel some confidence as he heads into the starting rotation for the first time. He did, after all, strike out 13 in the 11.1 innings he threw.

FanGraph’s projections see Puk coming out of his rookie season with a 10-8 record and 3.65 ERA to go with 162 strikeouts in 147 innings (9.94 strikeouts per nine innings).

The FanGraphs crew may be on to something, at least if Puk’s first Cactus League game of the year Saturday night against the Cubs is any indication.

He started off against the Cubs’ newly ordained leadoff hitter Kris Bryant, and the veteran had no chance, striking out on three pitches, including a wicked slider.

“That was a pretty good one to start with,” Puk told the media after the game, which turned out to be a 12-2 Oakland loss.

Puk allowed a two-out walk, but he was otherwise dominant in throwing a full section of his pitches – a four-seamer, a slider, a changeup and a curve – and touched 978 mph in the process.

One inning doesn’t mean much, particularly for someone who only late last season came off the injured list after his April, 2018 UCL surgery.

“I was just trying to be nice and easy,” Puk told the A’s media scrum after the game. “Probably first-game juices helped with that. But I’m feeling good, and that’s what I’m happy about.

“For the first one of the year, it was a pretty good one to start out with. I was pretty happy with that.”

After the UCL surgery wiped out 2018 for the A’s No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, he came back in the middle of the 2019 season with Triple-A Las Vegas with 18 games, four of them starts. The A’s brought him up for the second half of August, and he appeared in 10 games, all out of the bullpen.

He’s always been a starter when injuries haven't gotten in the way, though, and he touched on that after his one inning in Saturday’s start.

I’m looking forward to getting back into a good starting routine and just keep building on every start and getting ready for the season,” Puk said.