How Bassitt went from A's No. 4 starter to best pitcher

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Chris Bassitt finished his 2020 regular-season campaign on Friday night by pitching seven scoreless innings for the A’s in the 3-1 walk-off win over Seattle Mariners at the Oakland Coliseum.

Bassitt's 2.29 ERA was good enough for the third-lowest among AL starters this season through Friday's games.

It’s a great ending to an even better season for the 31-year-old who has become the most dominant starter for the Green and Gold this year.

“You come into spring training thinking he’s going to have to fight for a rotation spot,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said after the game. “He’s been good about being used in any role, and next thing you know, after it starts up again, he’s probably the most consistent guy the entire season and continues to be, so it’s been a long, hard road for him. To finally get a consistent starting role, and he’s taking advantage of it so, hat’s off to him. He’s quite the competitor on top of that.”

Bassitt’s pitching repertoire has been solid with his great ability to shave off an exorbitant amount of velocity with a curveball that makes opposing batters whiff. 

He also laughed when NBC Sports California asked him after the game if he remained confident in the pitch.

“I think I had all pitches kind of working tonight, and that’s obviously great going into the postseason,” Bassitt said after the game.

Bassitt’s consistency could lead to him pitching in Game 1 of the Wild-Card round next week, but that wasn’t on Bassitt’s mind. 

“I’m not too worried about that,” Bassitt said. “BoMel and the front office are going to make a decision that’s best for the team.”

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Bassitt’s immediate thoughts went into his workout tomorrow. That’s all that was on his mind. 

“I think I’ve had the year that I’ve had last year and this year just because I’m not worried about stuff that I cannot control, and for years that was really hard for me, but this year, to the extreme, I feel like I haven’t one time worried about stuff that I really cannot control and I can’t control that so I really don’t give a damn about it -- I don’t care when I’m starting,” Bassitt said. “They’ll make the decision, what’s best for the team, and I’ll go with that.” 

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