The Athletics announced that Peruvian-Venezuelan Jesús Luzardo will be their starter for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the White Sox on Tuesday at the Oakland Coliseum.
This will be the left-hander’s first postseason start of his career, following the youngster’s impressive playoff debut in last year’s Wild Card Game, when he pitched three scoreless innings as a reliever.
Among MLB rookies, Luzardo finished second with 59 strikeouts. In addition, after some ups and downs, he finished the season with a 4.14 ERA in 12 appearances (nine as a starter).
Luzardo, who turns 23 on Wednesday, is the youngest pitcher to make a postseason outing for the Athletics since Barry Zito started ALDS Game 4 in 2000. Vida Blue (22 years in SCLA Game 1 1971) is the other youngest franchise starter to start a playoff game in the past 105 years. (GG) (MLB IN SPANISH)