HOUSTON — Kendall Graveman’s early season struggles have led to a demotion.

The A’s Opening Day starter was optioned to Triple-A Nashville Thursday afternoon, one day after turning in his best start of the season.

Graveman, 27, turned in his first quality start of the season in Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers, allowing three runs on six hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over six innings of work.

But going 0-5 with an 8.89 ERA and having allowed league-highs in both hits (41) and earned runs (28) over six starts, Graveman had failed to live up to the expectations placed on him as the No. 1 starter coming out of spring training.

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Graveman had been working with a new delivery the past two starts as well as a looser grip on his changeup, which he threw more than his usual sinker in Wednesday’s start. The trip to the minors will give him a chance to gain more confidence with the new approach.

Along with Graveman, Chris Bassitt was also optioned to Triple-A.

Bassitt, 29, was called up from Nashville last Friday but did not appear in a game with the A’s.

As one of the corresponding moves, Wilmer Font was added to the 25-man roster.

Acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday in exchange for minor league pitcher Logan Salow, Font struggled through six relief appearances with the Dodgers, going 0-2 with an 11.32 ERA before getting designated for Assignment by the club as he was out of options. Signed as a free agent out of Venezuela by the Texas Rangers in 2006, Font has appeared in 14 games in the big leagues over four different seasons. He is 38-29 with a 3.69 ERA over nine seasons in the minors.

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A’s postseason preview: The questions Oakland must answer to get out of wild-card round A starter the past two seasons in the minors, Font will provide the A’s with some flexibility as a potential starter or reliever. The 27-year-old right-hander went 10-8 with a 3.42 ERA in 25 starts with the Dodgers Triple-A club last season as he led the entire Pacific Coast League in strikeouts with 178 over 134 1/3 innings.

“This is a guy our front office has talked about before,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s got a big arm. You’re always trying to have as many guys in the mix as you can. He could potentially fill a couple of roles if the need were there for it.”

The second corresponding was not announced by the A’s as of Thursday afternoon, though Yusmeiro Petit is a likely candidate to be placed back on the active roster after being placed on bereavement leave Tuesday to travel to Venezuela following the death of his mother.