Luzardo fired four scoreless innings in a Cactus League win over the Rangers on Thursday, allowing no hits and two walks while recording five strikeouts.
The Athletics have been deliberate about breaking in the members of their starting rotation this spring, so Thursday marked Luzardo's first outing. The final line certainly speaks to the left-hander's dominance, and Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports Luzardo unveiled a new looping 65 mph breaking ball that he got a called third strike on. "He's very understanding of what he needs to work on," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He's worked this spring on throwing two different kinds of breaking balls to try to add a four-pitch mix, so if one isn't working then he still has three pitches."