PEORIA, Ariz. -- The ballpark becomes a waiting room for success when Jesus Luzardo pitches.

Luzardo, 22 years young, again flashed the brilliance that has made him Oakland’s No. 1 prospect. The left-hander struck out eight batters in 3 1/3 innings Saturday as the A’s defeated the Seattle Mariners, 8-4.

“Actually, the umpire missed one on [Carlos] González. It should have been nine strikeouts,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.

Mixing sliders, curveballs and changeups with fastballs that hovered around 96-97 mph, Luzardo sustained the skill that has kept the A’s in a state of anticipation since 2017, when they acquired him from Washington in a five-player deal. He seemed capable of simply blowing away the Mariners with his fastball. But he looked much more like a pitcher than a thrower, complementing his heater with offspeed stuff that he employed to tally most of his strikeouts.

Luzardo believed that he lacked command through the first two innings, though he struck out five batters in that span. The second inning walk that González drew set up Cal Raleigh’s RBI double. It’s the lone run that Luzardo has yielded in 8 1/3 exhibition innings spanning three outings.

“Stuff-wise it was there, but command I was falling behind on the count, kind of just wasting pitches that I didn’t need to waste,” he said. “… I’m better when I can just go after hitters and attack.”

Luzardo’s healthy self-criticism reflected a brand of maturity that Melvin appreciates.

“He’s a driven kid,” Melvin said. “He has really high goals for himself this year and holds himself to a high standard. With that kind of stuff, he should. It just makes you better.”

A pair of shoulder injuries prevented Luzardo from making a bigger impact last season. He still posted a 1.50 ERA and struck out 16 batters in 12 innings over six relief appearances for Oakland. Luzardo began his offseason throwing program a little later than usual to give his arm more time to recover from the injuries.

The mild adversity that befell Luzardo prolonged the fuss surrounding his prospect status. He insisted that he pays no attention to such expectations. “I just go about my business and pitch,” he said.

If Luzardo demonstrates a representative sampling of his talent this year, Oakland’s starting rotation could be superb, not just solid. Like Luzardo, Mike Fiers, Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas possess top-of-the-rotation stuff. The A’s have distinguished themselves with rotations featuring Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and John “Blue Moon” Odom; Mike Norris, Rick Langford, Steve McCatty and Matt Keough; and Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. Oakland’s current group of starters could be poised to join that pantheon.

“This is probably, at least on paper, as good a starting rotation as we’ve had around here,” Melvin said. “You still have to go out there and perform. But the guys have the tools to do it.”

Noteworthy
Sean Murphy, Oakland’s projected No. 1 catcher, started his third game and rapped his first Cactus League hit, a fourth-inning double. “It looks like he’s been playing all spring,” Melvin said. The A’s have brought Murphy along slowly to help him recover from offseason knee surgery.

Up next
Montas will continue his preparation for a high-profile role in Oakland’s starting rotation when he confronts the Milwaukee Brewers in Mesa on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT. Montas is among a handful of candidates for the Opening Day starter spot, and even if he doesn’t secure that role, he’ll likely rank among the rotation’s top three starters.