OAKLAND -- For over three months, the anticipation for the start of a season full of lofty expectations was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. But now that Summer Camp is set to begin this week and with Opening Day on the horizon in late July, the A’s can get back to work on achieving their goals for 2020.

Before the first workout at the Oakland Coliseum takes place on Saturday, here are some A’s storylines that will surely dominate this unique season:

1. Unlimited Luzardo and Puk?

Entering the original full slate of a 162-game season, the A’s were going to have to be creative in order to monitor the workloads of Jesús Luzardo and A.J. Puk, the club’s top two pitching prospects who also rank among the top prospects in the game. Luzardo has never thrown more than 109 1/3 innings in a season over his professional career, while Puk's career high is 125 frames. Now that the regular season is shortened to 60 games, the A’s should be able to roll both electric left-handers out there on a regular basis without any restrictions. Still, recent injury history -- Luzardo dealt with shoulder issues in 2018, while Puk underwent Tommy John surgery in ’18 and was temporarily shut down in Spring Training due to a shoulder strain -- could lead the A’s to keep a close eye on both, at least early on.

• A's 2020 season FAQ

The A’s believe the additions of Luzardo and Puk to a starting staff that already includes Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Mike Fiers will turn the rotation into one of the team’s biggest strengths. Both rookies impressed in their short stints out of the bullpen in 2019, with Luzardo putting a flourish on his season by tossing three scoreless innings against the Rays in the American League Wild Card Game.

2. Is this the year the A’s get over the Wild Card hump?

The A’s have dropped nine consecutive postseason elimination games, last winning a win-or-go-home contest in Game 7 of the 1973 World Series against the Mets. This stat has only been magnified the past couple of years as each of the past two A’s seasons have ended with a loss in the AL Wild Card Game.

One obvious solution to conquering the postseason struggles would be to win the division, but that is always easier said than done in a difficult AL West that features the Astros.

“We have a tough division, with probably the best team in baseball in that division,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said following the loss to the Rays in the 2019 AL Wild Card Game. “If we’re forced to play in that game again, we’ll have to put the other ones in the rearview mirror, which our team does anyway.”

3. Who is the primary second baseman?

Tuesday’s trade of Jorge Mateo to the Padres gives some clarity to the A’s second-base competition, but the decision on who will get the bulk of playing time at the spot could come down to performance in Summer Camp. At the time of the Spring Training stoppage, Tony Kemp and Franklin Barreto were the leading candidates for the job, turning in nearly identical Cactus League stats:

Barreto: 11-for-36, 4 2B, 2 3B, 4 RBIs, 3 BB, 8 K, SB

Kemp: 10-for-29, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs, 4 BB, 5 K, SB

A left-right platoon between Barreto and Kemp is a possibility, but with a 60-game regular season, whomever gets hot at the plate first could eventually take over the spot on an everyday basis. You also can’t forget about Rule 5 Draft pick Vimael Machin, who as of now will likely make the club as a super-utility man after impressing during Spring Training, hitting 10-for-30 with two doubles and five RBIs.