Puk delivers short but sweet first start

A.J. Puk knew he wasn't going to have a lot of innings on the mound Monday night, so he made the most of them.
In his first start of 2017, Oakland's No. 2 prospect allowed just two hits and a walk while fanning six over four shutout innings as Class A Advanced Stockton beat Modesto, 8-3, at Banner Island Ballpark.

"This year, that's our routine for the starters," Puk said after tossing an efficient 59 pitches in his full-season debut, 43 for strikes. "We have an eight-man rotation, so we're only going four innings each start for the entire season."
Last year's sixth-overall Draft selection felt good heading into his initial outing of the year, eager to build on a strong leadup to the season.
"I felt like I had a pretty good Spring Training, and I just wanted to come out here today and just continue going with what I felt in Spring Training," MLB.com's No. 67 overall prospect said. "I think I did that."
Box score
Chris Mariscal and Logan Taylor singled off Puk with one out in the first inning, then the southpaw induced a line-drive double play off the bat of Joey Curletta to end the inning. From there, Puk faced the minimum. He fanned two batters in the second, struck out the side in the third and notched another K in the fourth. 
"The first inning, I was mainly fastballs, and they were putting the ball in play," Puk said. "The next three innings, I just focused on getting my slider and changeup going. That was helpful for me to help them get off my fastball. I was able to locate my fastball pretty well."
The Florida product issued his only walk to Mariscal to lead off the fourth, but catcher Sean Murphy erased the baserunner on a steal attempt. Murphy was behind the plate for Puk's professional debut last summer with Class A Short Season Vermont, and the battery has grown familiar with each other since.
"I threw to him in [instructional league] and all spring, so we had a pretty good rhythm out there," Puk said.
The backstop helped his starter in multiple ways. Murphy clubbed a solo homer to center field in the second and went back-to-back with Chris Iriart with a shot to left during a five-run third. Stockton rolled up 13 hits and went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
"He swung the bat well tonight and the entire team did," Puk said. "It was kind of the first game this year where we put up a lot of runs, so it was good to see."

Puk's baptism into pro ball came last year with a 10-start stretch with Vermont. In the New York-Penn League, the University of Florida product struck out 40 batters in 32 2/3 innings, limiting opponents to a .185 average and 12 walks. He noticed some change in the approach of the Class A Advanced hitters, but wasn't fazed.
"Vermont was a good experience to start in pro ball and it wasn't too much of a difference," he said. "I still had to go out there and execute pitches and see what happens."
The victory marked the first step in the 6-foot-7 left-hander's first full season, and Puk has an idea of what he'll attempt to incorporate in step two.
"[I want to] build on it, just go out there and maybe include my curveball more next outing," he said.