Puk's Chances of Opening in A's Rotation Dim

Rookie left-hander A.J. Puk's shoulder is OK, but he may not be built up enough to begin the season in the Athletics' rotation. Chris Bassitt is likely first up if Puk isn't rotation-ready.

It was a bit of mixed news for the A’s on starting pitcher A.J. Puk Saturday morning.

Oakland manager Bob Melvin told the assembled scribes in Mesa, Ariz., that Puk’s left shoulder is basically OK.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Puk necessarily will be in the starting rotation come the final week of March.

After renowned orthopedic specialist Dr. Neil ElAttrache, working out of the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, told the club that he’d found no structural damage in Puk’s shoulder, the team feels comfortable moving forward.

Puk had been shut down Tuesday, just before he was due to make his third spring start.

The lefty won’t begin throwing immediately, Melvin said in his morning meeting with the media. Instead, the club’s first-round pick in the June, 2016, draft will work on strengthening his shoulder before attempting to play catch and then moving on to a regular throwing regimen. No date has been set for Puk to resume throwing.

What that means is that there is a decent chance Puk won’t be stretched out enough to begin the season in the starting rotation. Melvin characterized having Puk ready for the rotation by the end of this month as “a long shot.”

One option would be to have Puk start the season in the bullpen – the role he embraced when he made his big-league debut in the waning weeks of the 2019 season – and build up to finally being moved into the rotation.

Although Melvin didn’t say so, Puk’s status likely would mean that Chris Bassitt, who had 25 starts and a 10-5 record last season with Oakland, could fill in as part of the five-man opening rotation. The A’s open playing on eight consecutive dates, so going with a four-man rotation to begin is out of the question.

“Right now, I’m built up just as much as the (other) starters are built up,” Bassitt told the A’s media after his start in Puk’s stead Tuesday. “I threw three innings today. I think it might build up to four or five innings before the season starts. You can obviously go down from there or stay there and keep starting, so that aspect is pretty easy.”

The A’s came into the spring believing that Puk and fellow left-handed rookie Jesus Luzardo, who like Puk pitched only in relief in MLB debuts last year, would join Mike Fiers, Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea in the rotation.

By definition, that would squeeze Bassitt out into a bullpen/spot starter role. However, Puk and Luzardo haven’t thrown a ton of innings in their careers, so Melvin and pitching coach Scott Emerson came into the spring wanting Bassitt stretched out to be a starter. There was some thought that Bassitt could get a bunch of starts or pitch repeatedly in long relief to keep the innings count down for Puk and Luzardo through their rookie seasons.

So, having Bassitt ready to fill in is part of a broader plan.