White Sox thrilled to face Athletics' Luzardo after dominating lefties
The Oakland Athletics are entrusting rookie left-hander Jesus Luzardo with the starter role for Game 1 of their wild-card series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.
The White Sox dominated left-handers during the regular season, going 14-0 against southpaw starters.
"We'll take it," shortstop Tim Anderson said, according to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I guess they haven't done their homework."
The White Sox led the majors with a 143 wRC+ against lefty pitching in 2020. They hit .285/.364/.523 with 27 home runs as a unit, and Anderson led the way - he hit .449 with a 1.51 OPS, six homers, seven doubles, and 12 RBIs against lefties in 55 plate appearances.
Luzardo, 22, is taking a rather zen approach knowing how well the White Sox typically hit left-handed pitching.
"I feel like every pitcher is different," Luzardo said, according to Alex Coffey of The Athletic. "Every lefty has different stuff so we'll see how my stuff plays against them."
Luzardo went 4-3 with a 4.12 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 59 strikeouts in 59 innings over 12 appearances (nine starts).
Right-hander Chris Bassitt will follow Luzardo for Game 2 on Wednesday. Lucas Giolito will start Game 1 for the White Sox with veteran Dallas Keuchel taking Game 2.