The Oakland A’s list Daniel Mengden as their scheduled starter for the Wednesday night game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
However, Oakland manager Bob Melvin is reserving the right to change his mind.
Melvin is considering using an “opener” Wednesday, putting in a reliever for the first inning before having Mengden (1-1, 3.05 ERA) enter the game at the start of the second.
While the Angels have used an opener several times this season, Melvin has implemented the strategy just twice — both times using Liam Hendriks as his opener.
The first time came May 11 when Hendriks threw a scoreless first that was followed by four innings from Aaron Brooks as the A’s went on to a 3-2 victory against the Cleveland Indians.
On May 29 against the Angels, Hendriks gave up two runs in the first inning before handing the ball to Mengden, who allowed only one run in 4 1/3 innings. The Angels eventually earned a 12-7, 11-inning win.
“It’s more of a ‘stay tuned’ type of thing,” Melvin said. “I’d kind of like to see (Mengden) do it. We’ll get some input from within and see how we proceed.”
Hendriks, however, pitched Tuesday and needed 20 pitches to get through one inning, so if Melvin decides to do it, he’ll likely pick another reliever.
Nevertheless, a good reason to hold Mengden out until the second inning would be to allow him to avoid Mike Trout in that first inning. Trout is 5-for-6 with a homer, two doubles, two walks and three RBIs against him.
Another hitter Mengden might want to avoid is David Fletcher, who has batted in the leadoff spot 23 times this season, more than anyone else on the team. Fletcher is 1-for-2 with a walk against Mengden, and despite striking out twice Tuesday, Fletcher been the toughest batter to fan in the American League.
Including the two strikeouts Tuesday, Fletcher has struck out 15 times in 209 at-bats, 13.9 at-bats per strikeout. Second in the league is shortstop Angels Andrelton Simmons, who has a rare of 12.5 at-bats per strikeout but is currently on the injured list.
Overall against the Angels, Mengden is 0-2 with a 7.54 ERA in five games (three starts).
Felix Pena (3-1, 3.42 ERA) is scheduled to be the primary pitcher Wednesday for the Angels, but he will follow opener Cam Bedrosian (2-3, 2.96).
Pena hasn’t started a game since April 19. His best performance of the season came May 9 at Detroit, when Luke Bard opened with a scoreless inning before Pena came in and threw seven shutout innings during a 13-0 victory.
In four career games (three starts) against the A’s, Pena is 0-2 with an 8.79 ERA. Pena made his 2019 season debut at Oakland, giving up four runs in 3 2/3 innings during a 4-2 loss on March 30.
The A’s will look to clinch the three-game series on Wednesday after taking the opener 4-2 on Tuesday. The Angels managed just four hits, one of them Shohei Ohtani’s two-run homer in the sixth inning that accounted for the final scoring of the night.
Los Angeles catcher Jonathan Lucroy went 0-for-4, extending his slump to 21 hitless at-bats.
“It seems like every time he hits the ball hard, it gets caught, and when he doesn’t hit the ball hard, it gets caught,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said, according to the Orange County Register.