Reymin Guduan was a late Opening Day addition as the 13th man in the A’s bullpen once Trevor Rosenthal was placed on the Injured List with shoulder inflammation.
Guduan has had a rough introduction in the green and gold, as he has been rocked twice in an ugly three games against the Houston Astros so far this season.
In Saturday’s 9-1 loss to the division rival, Guduan entered in the ninth and gave up four runs to put the game out of reach. In the process, he did something that no A’s pitcher had done in nearly 40 years.
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Generally, dubious history isn’t good history to make.
Guduan’s first wild pitch brought home Chas McCormick, who banged a two-run double off the left field wall earlier in the inning for his first MLB hit. The first wild pitch also moved Aledmys Diaz up 90 feet into scoring position. Guduan’s next wild pitch sent Diaz to third and set up Kyle Tucker’s sac fly to score the final run of the game.
You’re on something of an island as the mop-up man. Every bullpen has one and Guduan has had the unwanted privilege so far this season. Even when it looks bad, no more relievers are getting warmed up to help you out.
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Guduan impressed Melvin and the A’s coaching staff in the spring after giving up one run on three hits and a walk across 9 1/3 Cactus League innings. But he could get a quick hook back to the alternate site in Stockton once Rosenthal returns.
In Thursday’s season opener, Guduan gave up three earned runs on two hits and two walks in the ninth inning. He now sports an unsightly 31.50 ERA after giving up seven earned runs in two innings this year.
Guduan made 32 relief appearances with the Astros from 2017 to 2019, so his rough start to the year has come at the hands of his former teammates.
It’s a very small sample size, but Oakland’s southpaws in the bullpen all struggled this weekend. Jake Diekman gave up three runs (two earned) in 2/3 innings of work on Friday while Adam Kolarek gave up two solo shots and hit a batter while retiring one in the opener.