Joe Palumbo is set to make his major league debut on the mound for the Texas Rangers in the first game of a doubleheader against the Oakland A’s on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
Palumbo is expected to be called up from Double-A Frisco in time to face off against A’s right-hander Paul Blackburn, who will be making his season debut.
Palumbo was a 30th-round draft pick of the Rangers in 2013 and the 24-year-old gradually rose through their system to become the seventh-ranked prospect in the organization and No. 1 left-hander.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how that comes out,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward told reporters. “As a young guy, you never know. All the reports we’re getting, this kid can handle it.”
Texas may soon run out of patience with left-handed starter Drew Smyly, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs in November. Smyly is 1-4 and his ERA has climbed to 7.93 after giving up seven earned runs in each of his past two outings.
A good performance by Palumbo could open the door for a longer look.
“You never know,” Woodward said. “If (Palumbo) dominates the Oakland A’s, him being left-handed with a dominantly right-handed lineup, if he were to pitch pretty well against that team, it may show enough for us to consider, at some point, becoming one of our rotation guys.”
Blackburn was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday. The 25-year-old right-hander is 6-1 with a 4.55 ERA at Las Vegas. His ERA climbed after allowing 10 runs in 10 1/3 innings over his past two starts.
Blackburn will try to keep the A’s above .500 after they won the series opener on Friday night, 5-3, to move their record to 32-31.
Oakland won 10 straight from May 16-27 to climb a season-high four games over .500, but then dropped six of seven before winning their past two.
“We’re kind of scuffling at the .500 mark again,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “At this point, every series that we win, it puts us one more game over .500.”
The A’s are expected to send right-hander Chris Bassitt to the mound for the second game.
Bassitt (3-1, 3.42 ERA) made his season debut against the visiting Rangers on April 22 and threw five shutout innings in the 6-1 win.
Last month was a series of ups and downs for the 30-year-old right-hander, but he looked solid in his most recent start on Sunday against the visiting Houston Astros, limiting them to three runs and six hits in six innings of 6-4 loss in 12 innings.
Bassitt is 1-1 in his career against the Rangers with a 5.25 ERA in four appearances, including two starts.
Righty Adrian Sampson is scheduled to oppose Bassitt on the mound.
Sampson (4-3, 4.14) has won his past four appearances, three of which came in relief following an opener. His ERA is 2.38 in that stretch.
The A’s have some hitters who are swinging the bat very well.
Robbie Grossman is 10-for-18 in his past four games to raise his average from .212 to .247.
Jurickson Profar is 8-for-21 in a five-game hitting streak with four RBIs, and Ramon Laureano has reached base in a league-leading 25 straight games.
