Is Bassitt on Track to face Twins in Opening Series?

Past success against Minnesota may lead to the Athletics starting Chris Bassitt against the Twins in the four-game series that opens the 2020 Oakland season.

While the good news coming out of the A’s camp in Mesa, Ariz. is that A.J. Puk is starting to throw again and that the left-hander likely to start the season with a healthy shoulder, he’s not likely to be ready to be part of Oakland’s starting rotation from the outset.

It’s almost certain that Chris Bassitt will be in the rotation come the final week of March when roles are finalized for the March 26 opener against the Minnesota Twins.

And while the fifth starter, which Bassitt would be behind Mike Fiers, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Jesus Luzardo, would normally not get a turn against the Twins in that four-game season-opening series at the Coliseum, don’t count Bassitt, 10-5 with a 3.81 ERA last year mostly as a starter, out.

He beat the Twins, who were en route to winning the American League Central title with 101 wins, the only time he faced them last year. In his first start after the All-Star Break, the right-hander pitched five strong innings in Minnesota on July 19, giving up three runs, two earned, in a 5-3 Oakland victory.

More than that, Bassitt has a 2.16 career ERA against Minnesota, so manager Bob Melvin and pitching coach Scott Emerson will take that into consideration when setting up the rotation for the season’s first seven days, which includes three games at home against the Astros in addition to the four with the Twins.

Bassitt went on to beat the Astros five days later, but overall was 1-1 with a 5.00 against Houston in 2019. For his career, he’s 2-1 with a 3.97 ERA in six games against the Astros, five of them starts.

On the day he subbed in a start for Puk on March 3, Bassitt said he was preparing to start or relieve, as needed. But he has the mindset of a starter – 25 of his 28 games last year came in that role – so it was no surprise that after he pitched three hitless, scoreless innings against the Rangers Monday night, he talked like one.

Before the game, manager Bob Melvin told the A’s media gaggle that Puk was unlikely to open in the rotation. That clears room for Bassitt, who told the San Francisco Chronicle he was ready.

“I’ve been preparing to be a starter the whole offseason just because it’s so easy for me to be the opposite,” Bassitt told the paper. “As long as I’m preparing to be a starter, I can be a reliever.”

Bassitt said he’s not looking to do anything but contribute.

“Hopefully A.J. get back pretty quick, but it’s just like last spring,” Bassitt said. “I haven’t changed my mentality at all just because I knew I could flip the switch to be a reliever.”

Bassitt seems to see himself as an underdog. And not without cause. He didn’t play college ball at a baseball factory, choosing instead the University of Akron. He wasn’t anybody’s idea of a high draft pick, either, going in the 16 round to the White Sox in 2011. And when he was traded to the A’s, he wasn’t the big name – shortstop Marcus Semien was the player the A’s were pursuing.

“I’ve been somewhat doubted my whole career,” Bassitt told NBC Sports-California last month. “I definitely remember things that we said about me. It’s just like, man, I’m going to prove you all wrong.”

And at least at the season’s start, he’ll have the megaphone of the starting rotation to do it.