Brett Anderson Could Start Wild Card Game

Anderson is lone veteran in the Oakland rotation. Image: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

The Oakland Athletics come into the game on Tuesday night, their 161st of the season, with rookies having had started 101 of those games on the mound. For most of the season, left hander Brett Anderson was on the disabled list whilst he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Anderson returned in late August and pitched outstanding baseball in his first five starts. The sixth start didn’t go as well, in part because Anderson suffered an oblique strain during that September 19 start at Detroit.

The A’s could still win the AL West, but they’ll need wins over Texas in the season’s final two games. No matter if the A’s wind up in the Wild Card game on Friday, or even end the season with the league’s best record (which is also still possible), it looks like Anderson could be on the hill when the first playoff pitch is thrown by an Athletics hurler since Huston Street served up a series-ending home run to Magglio Ordonez in the 2006 ALCS.

Anderson threw 70 pitches in a bullpen session on Monday and reported no discomfort. Anderson is 4-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 35 innings this season. He is the only member of Oakland’s starting rotation that is not a rookie.