Jesus Luzardo, a rookie pitcher with the Oakland A's, was affected by the West Coast wildfires during his start last night against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park, the home of the Mariners.
Although the roof was closed for yesterday's doubleheader between the two teams a haze was visible in the ballpark. Fortunately there were no fans in the ballpark due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Luzardo was lifted from the game after giving up four runs in the fifth inning. The A's lost 6-5, but Luzardo was not involved in the decision. Following the game, Luzardo told reporters, "I'm a healthy 22-year-old. I shouldn't be gasping for air, or missing oxygen when I'm kind of getting to the line. I'll leave it at that."
Complicating matters is that the Peruvian born southpaw who was raised in Florida was diagnosed with COVID-19 back in early July. This is certainly true of anyone living in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington who has been diagnosed with COVID where the majority of the wildfires have been situated. Unlike Luzardo, many people aren't healthy 22-year old big league pitchers.
Luzardo, who turns 23 later this month, was originally drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2016. The following year Luzardo was traded to the A's in a deal which sent reliever Sean Doolittle to the Nats. Luzardo made his big league debut last season. In 10 appearances with the A's in 2020 including eight starts, Luzardo is 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched.
The wildfires are expected to worsen as we head into autumn. If COVID wasn't bad enough one wonders how baseball will be played in California, Washington and possibly Arizona and Colorado. But if the fires get worse baseball will be the least of of the American West's problems.
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