Rookie Of The Year Candidate Jesús Luzardo Joins The Carmichael Dave Show
Aug 12, 2020, 11:15 AM | Updated: 11:15 am
(Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
The hard-throwing left-hander joined the show to discuss his road back from Tommy John surgery, playing baseball in a COVID-19 world and much more!
Oakland Athletics left-handed rookie Jesús Luzardo joined The Carmichael Dave Show this week to talk about the hot start to the season for the 12-6 Athletics and the road to the show.
Luzardo, 22, made his Major League debut last season after three seasons in the minor leagues.
Over six appearances in 2019, the hard-throwing southpaw struck out 16 batters over 12 innings and finished the season with a 1.50 ERA and 0.67 WHIP.
Interview with A’s starter Jesús Luzardo begins at the 01:00 mark
With his rookie status still intact throughout the shortened 2020 season, Luzardo has been considered by many to be one of the favorites to win the Rookie of the Year Award.
In his four appearances this season, Luzardo is 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA and 17 strikeouts over 17.1 innings pitched.
Luzardo, who has dealt with a few injuries over the years, told Dave that the rehab process has its pro’s and con’s when working your way back from an injury.
“Just starting from high school when I had Tommy John, kind of had to just sit on the sidelines in my last year of high school, and then throughout the minors I kept getting hurt the closer I got to getting called up,” he said. “I think it does play an effect on me, definitely the rehab and all of that stuff definitely takes a toll on the mental part of things, but also helps you.”
The A’s and Houston Astros were involved in a benches-clearing brawl earlier this week that has resulted in larger than usual punishments, something that the Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred warned teams of before the season began.
Of course, more importantly than just missing a few games is the risk of contracting COVID-19, a monumental risk for everyone around the country.
When asked of how it feels to be in a benches-clearing situation from a players’ perspective, Luzardo shared his thoughts.
“I guess it’s probably different from guy-to-guy. I know that some guys are expecting having kids soon, so they have to be smart about it. Every guy has a different situation, you have to respect every situation. For me, I kind of just mentally blocked, as in ‘That’s my guy, I have to protect my guy’. In a situation like that, you just get that quick adrenaline rush,” he said.
“The first thing that comes to your mind is ‘I have to get my guy’s back. I’m not going to let him run into a wall of the other team.’ I think that that’s what usually goes through guy’s heads. But obviously with these times and how COVID is, some people have different mentalities.”
Listen to the entire interview with A’s starter Jesús Luzardo by clicking the ‘play’ button on the audio file at the top of the page.
