Reliever Yusmeiro Petit came off the family medical emergency leave list Saturday after returning from Venezuela, where he visited his mother, Rubia.
Petit said that his mother is very ill and was so sedated that she didn’t know he was there.
“He’s doing OK,” manager Bob Melvin said, adding that the trip home was “something that was extremely important to him, and I understand why.”
To make room for Petit, the A’s sent reliever Josh Lucas, who worked three scoreless innings the night before, back to Triple-A Nashville.
“Three innings and 25 pitches?” Melvin said. “You don’t see that often. When he did get into a jam, he was able to keep the ball down and get a double-play ball. First look was really good. I’d be kind of surprised if we didn’t see him again.”
The A’s have numerous relievers performing well at Nashville, including Lucas and Lou Trivino, who was sent down Thursday, as well as Bobby Wahl and Jeremy Bleich, who is left-handed but not on the 40-man roster. The A’s are down to one left-hander after Danny Coulombe was sent down Friday.
With so many options at Nashville, how long will Oakland stick with right-hander Emilio Pagan, who gave up Mitch Moreland’s sixth-inning grand slam Friday? Pagan has allowed four homers, tied for the most among AL relievers with the Angels’ Luke Bard, who was designated for assignment Saturday. Pagan has given up runs in six of 10 outings, and opponents are batting .332 against him.
The A’s traded first baseman Ryon Healy to get Pagan, however, and the front office liked his metrics from Pagan’s first season with Seattle. He has options left, but given the relatively small sample size in April, it’s likely the team will give Pagan time to turn things around.
Given his difficulties, will Melvin change how he uses Pagan? Melvin said that Friday’s situation — Pagan took over from starter Kendall Graveman with the bases loaded — probably would have gone to Petit had he been with the team, or to a second lefty (Coulombe) if the A’s had one.
“But when guys aren’t available, you have to go to other guys,” Melvin said. “We still have faith in Pagan. He has a good riding fastball, maybe should have tried to use that at that point instead of a first-pitch slider, but sometimes you have to ride through some bumps with some guys and if it goes on too long, maybe you change up roles a little bit, but we still have faith in him.”
Briefly: Catcher Josh Phegley (broken fingers) came off the disabled list and was optioned to Nashville. ... Liam Hendriks said he is making progress in his return from adductor tendinitis. The reliever is eligible to be activated Tuesday but is likely to be out a few weeks longer. ... Minor-league starters James Kaprielian and Daulton Jefferies threw to hitters for the first time since their Tommy John surgeries and both looked terrific, according to minor-league pitching coordinator Gil Patterson, who said Jefferies hit 93-94 mph, with Kaprielian touching 95 mph.
Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.