Progress is not always perfectly linear, even for the best young pitchers.
The Oakland A’s optioned Jesús Luzardo to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday, the team announced. The move comes after the left-hander struggled in a relief role this month.
The 23-year-old phenom opened the season in the starting rotation, but was knocked out for all of May by a freak hand injury. Upon his return he shifted to the bullpen, and that experiment quickly went awry. He was effective in his first two appearances but then allowed runs in his next five outings, including six total homers.