Bob Melvin was asked by reporters Saturday if he had decided on the A's rotation for the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros, and Oakland's manager said the team would make an announcement Sunday.
But Melvin did mention that he likely won't reveal a full five-man rotation for the series, simply because he doesn't know who he might have to use in the first few games of the best-of-five series.
Unlike previous years where teams could potentially get through a five-game ALDS with four starters due to off days for travel, teams this year will need to rely on up to five starters if the series goes the distance. A manager could bring back his Game 1 starter on short rest in a potential Game 5, but that's always risky for a number of reasons.
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The good news for the A's is that they have six starters after acquiring lefty Mike Minor from the Texas Rangers before the trade deadline.
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But that doesn't mean lining up the rotation is easy for the A's.
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"Having this (three-day) rest kind of gives us carte blanche to set it up the way we’d like," A's executive vice president Billy Beane told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami this week. "[Chris] Bassitt could go on regular rest on Monday. So we can do whatever we want with the rotation.
"Some of these, we’ve gotta be careful, like Sean [Manaea] hasn’t (pitched since Sept. 23) … you want to make sure they don’t get stale. Because in a division series, potentially you’re playing five straight days, so you’ll need all five starters. In our case, we’ve got six, so of that six, we’ll decide what order here over the weekend as soon as possible."
As Beane stated, Bassitt likely will go in Game 1 on Monday at Dodger Stadium, but after that, Melvin and his staff have some decisions to make. Do they go with rookie Jesus Luzardo, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas or Mike Fiers in Game 2? And what do they do with Minor? Do they save him for a potential start later in the series or do they put him in the bullpen and use him as a long reliever in case any of the starters get into trouble?
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Whatever the A's decide to do, Beane is content with the options.
“We feel good about the choices we have," Beane told Kawakami. "This is unusual. You’ve probably never needed all five starters in a postseason. … You know, five guys gotta go. So it tests the depth of your rotation.”