By John Shea Updated 4:52 pm PDT, Saturday, September 1, 2018 When the lineup was posted for Saturday’s game, pitcher Daniel Mengden wasn’t listed as the starter even though he had been scheduled to start. The starter: reliever Liam Hendriks. The A’s are the latest team to pull a pitcher out of the bullpen to open on the mound and pitch an inning or two. It’s the first day of September, so it’s the first day roster limits are 40 instead of 25. Oakland’s bullpen includes 14 relievers. That includes Mengden, at least for a day. The plan would be for him to follow Hendriks. “With the starters going down, we’re going to have to use our bullpen anyway,” said manager Bob Melvin, whose latest rotation casualties were Sean Manaea and Brett Anderson. “Maybe it keeps the starter off against the top part or middle part (of the lineup) one less time. We’ll feel it out. This is the first time we’re doing it in this fashion. Certainly, Liam’s not going to be going six innings tonight. We’ll see how we fill in behind it. “We’re trying to do things a little bit differently. If the strength of our pitching staff… Read full this story
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