Athletics right-hander Andrew Triggs has undergone surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip yesterday, the Athletics announced on Friday (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jane Lee). Triggs had previously told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he if he ultimately had the surgery, the expectation was that he’d be throwing off a mound in time for Spring Training 2018 (Twitter link).
It’s a tough break for the 28-year-old Triggs, who was sensational through his first eight starts in 2017 before turning in uneven results the rest of the way. Through mid-May, Triggs had worked to a 2.12 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 54 percent ground-ball rate, but he allowed six or more runs in each of his final four starts before landing on the disabled list due to hip pain that will now ultimately cost him the remainder of his season.
An unheralded waiver claim out of the Orioles organization, Triggs quietly emerged as a promising starting option for the A’s last season when he pitched 56 1/3 strong innings. Though his 4.31 ERA didn’t appear all that encouraging on the surface, Triggs averaged 8.8 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 with a 51 percent ground-ball rate as a rookie in 2016, prompting metrics like FIP (3.20), xFIP (3.29) and SIERA (3.29) to forecast considerable improvement in 2017.
Triggs will spend the remainder of the season on the 60-day DL (once the A’s need to place him there to open a 40-man spot, that is), and will hope for better health in 2018. He’ll gain a full year of service time this season, pushing his career total to one year, 123 days. That trajectory means that he’s unlikely to be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 season (post-2018 is possible, but unlikely, and will depend on the Super Two cutoff). The A’s can control Triggs via arbitration through the 2022 campaign.
tim815
Sucks
gmflores27
Billy Beane is truly still one of the top GMs in baseball
phillyoakman
I don’t know about that. he finds the hidden gem but can’t keep it. sells them them for prospects but never has major ready talent to put together a world series caliber team. if us A’s fans are lucky we will see our youth take us to the playoffs again in a couple years but only if Beane doesn’t sell them off when their at top value. I’ve been an A’s fan my whole life and watch the beane era continue to repeat itself.
sampsonite168
Think (hoping) he was being facetious. He’s probably the most overrated GM of all time. 20 years and he has 1 ALCS appearance (in which they were swept) to show for it. Most teams have at least made a WS appearance in that time and their GMs didn’t need 20 consecutive years of running the same team to do it.
rycm131
Like the movie Moneyball said “A’s are worse than s–t in terms of resources, stadium, city appeal etc. He’s done a lot with a little, but that’s not to say he’s done well. He’s made more head scratching moves that novices like myself can’t believe, but we trust he knows more than us…only to see that our initial novice thought was accurate.
davidcoonce74
9th most wins in baseball since 2000. He seems to be doing alright.
BW
You’re right. Plus playoffs in 2000-03, 06, and 12-14, which is better than many teams.
sampsonite168
1-7 playoff record, 20 of the other 29 teams have appeared in a WS since he took over, including the equally cash strapped Marlins and Rays. He seems to be doing not alright at all.
rycm131
The Padres during a span were also doing quite well. I didn’t know 9th place was so coveted
oaklandoaks
He’s not even the GM anymore. David Forst is!!
Mikel Grady
Sonny gray to Cubs now
julyn82001
Beane is just masterful… If only he had the resources (he is just a minority owner)…
Chucky25
as an A’s fan I give some benefit I do like most of the things Billy’s done,and put most the blame on the owners,and the stadium and now with Wolfe gone and hopefully a new stadium in a couple years I think things will change,but if they don’t then maybe it’s time for change
phillyoakman
well put. I am I’m the same boat. I really like Kavel and his vision. I would like to see the A’s invest in their future and jeep a good core of guys together. Beane can keep trying to find hidden gems and trade up for them. I would hate to see what Beane did a few years back giving up future for a rental of Lester.
julyn82001
Yeah that Lester trade it just did not live up to expectations. Granted, the guy has postseason and that was probably meaningful at that time when they went in for all and lost that playoff game to the Royals 3 years ago. Trading Céspedes created a void to a very impressive lineup. Donaldson raised his concerns that management should had expended the buckies to retain their talent intact and he got traded too. The rest is history…
rycm131
Lester, Donaldson, Smarardja (spelled that wrong) these devasted the A’s and none paid off. (Barretto is pending, but honestly you’d have to be nuts to think he’s going to be any better than a .260-.270 hitter with 10 hrs.) in other words a Jed Lowrie type.
rycm131
And I would argue they did live up to expectations. They looked bad at the time and turned out to be bad.