Medina's control woes result in shortest start

MIAMI -- When it comes to pure stuff, A’s right-hander Luis Medina has the talent to develop into a quality big league starter.

The 24-year-old ran his fastball up to 98.8 mph on Saturday, but he also struggled with command and made mistakes in the zone that cost him.

Then there were the walks -- four of them -- that led to his early departure in the A’s 12-1 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park. In two-plus innings, Medina was tagged for six runs on six hits with two strikeouts.

Getting the start in Miami, A’s manager Mark Kotsay felt Medina was a bit amped up, trying to perform in front of family and friends.

“He’s had some good outings for us,” Kotsay said. “Today, he just didn’t have it.”

The Marlins have dominated in the first two games of the series, outscoring Oakland, 16-1.

With two outs in the eighth, Shea Langeliers’ RBI single snapped a string of 19 straight scoreless innings for the A’s, who have dropped 13 straight on the road.

For Medina, Saturday was a setback after the right-hander had pitched at least five innings in each of the five prior starts in his big league career.

“I’m always trying to do well,” Medina said through an interpreter. “It’s not like I was trying extra. I didn’t have my best stuff today. At the same time, I’m always going to go out and compete. I’m always trying to do my best.”

In terms of the organization’s big picture, Medina is the type of talent the A’s are hoping to build with.

Pregame Saturday, Kotsay talked about seeing progress from the Dominican Republic native. The manager specified Medina was showing signs with his control.

“If you asked me coming out of Spring Training if I would have felt Luis Medina would come here and be able to limit the amount of free bases, in terms of walks, I would have questioned that,” Kotsay said. “But he’s done a nice job over the last three or four starts of pounding the strike zone. He’s been beaten by the home run.”

Against the Marlins, Medina kept the ball in the park. But free passes and mistakes up and in the middle of the zone resulted in him handing the ball over to Kotsay with two on and no outs in the third. Of the 72 pitches he threw, 43 were strikes.

“I hate to give up walks,” Medina said. “I go there trying to make pitches. I definitely always hate when I give up any walks. I tried to put myself in the best spot, but I put myself in the worst spot.”

A one-out walk in the second inning to Nick Fortes opened the door for a four-run inning. When he was in the zone, he was hit hard. And the Marlins were content with hitting fastballs to the opposite field.

Joey Wendle delivered an opposite-field double, putting runners on second and third for Jonathan Davis to deliver a two-run double to right field.

Luis Arraez lined a fastball down the middle into center to make it 3-0, and Bryan De La Cruz had a sacrifice fly to right, another ball hit the other way.

“He had really good stuff, live arm,” Wendle said. “Good, too. He was in the zone. It's definitely a tough at-bat against him.”

In the third, Medina walked the first two batters he faced -- Jean Segura and Fortes -- and Kotsay turned the game over to left-hander Sam Long.

Arraez then delivered a three-run double, with two of those runs being charged to Medina, and the Marlins had a seven-run lead.

The A’s acquired Medina from the Yankees last Aug. 1 in a mega-deal that sent Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to New York.

It’s no secret the A’s are building around a young roster that includes several players who were acquired in high-profile trades.

Many of these players now have to develop in the big leagues.

“It’s kind of a perfect storm, when you talk about young players being traded and young players being in the big leagues,” Kotsay said. “A lot of them on this team have come from different organizations. So, it takes time for them to feel comfortable. For them to get their feet on the ground and start building chemistry, which is important, as well as coming to an understanding that they belong here.

“Performance doesn’t determine whether they’re here or they are in Triple-A. Our roster is built with guys we have acquired.”