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Chris Bassitt

Athletics Reinstate Chris Bassitt From Injured List

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TODAY: Bassitt has been officially reinstated from the injured list, the A’s announced.  Left-hander Sam Moll was moved to the paternity list to create roster space for Bassitt.  In another move, Oakland released the recently-DFA’ed Aramis Garcia.

TUESDAY, 7:34 pm: Bassitt will indeed start Thursday’s game against the Mariners, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle).

9:43 am: As the Athletics try to keep their playoff hopes alive, they could receive a boost that looked unlikely just a few weeks ago. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted recently that the A’s are targeting Thursday for right-hander Chris Bassitt’s return to the club. Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News reported last night that Bassitt tossed a 30-pitch bullpen session yesterday — his fourth throwing session since being cleared to throw off a mound.

A return to the field for Bassitt would make for a feel-good moment regardless of any potential impact on the postseason race. The baseball world took a collective gasp when Bassitt was struck in the face by a 100 mph line-drive back on Aug. 17. The right-hander remained down on the field for several minutes as he was tended to by the medical staff. He was eventually carted off the field with a towel covering his face. Bassitt sustained multiple facial fractures that had to be stabilized via surgery, but he avoided a concussion and any damage to his vision or his eye.

It was a frightening scene that quite obviously called into question whether Bassitt would be able to return to the field at all in 2021. Immediate questions were more focused on his overall well-being, but just over a month later, he now remarkably appears to be on the cusp of pitching in a big league game again.

Manager Bob Melvin said last night (via Rubin) that the team isn’t sure what type of role Bassitt would have upon returning. Based on the length of his recent bullpen session and simulated games, it doesn’t seem likely that Bassitt would jump right back into the workhorse rotation role he’d held down prior to the injury. That said, he’s clearly stretched out enough to go multiple innings, so he could make some abbreviated starts down the stretch, serve as a scheduled long man behind an opener, or even just operate as a multi-inning bullpen option as the situation dictates.

Prior to his injury, the 32-year-old Bassitt was in the midst of a career year for the A’s. He’d made 24 starts, averaging just shy of 6 1/3 innings per outing and completing six frames in 17 of those 24 trips to the hill. Along the way, he’d notched an impressive 3.06 ERA with a strong 25.3 percent strikeout rate and an excellent 5.8 percent walk rate through a total of 150 innings. He’s still fourth on the A’s in terms of total innings pitched, trailing Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea and Cole Irvin.

It’s been a tough stretch for the A’s since the injury to Bassitt. The team is 14-16 in the 30 games without him, and Oakland starters have combined for a 4.47 ERA in his absence — ranking just 17th in the Majors during that stretch. That 4.47 mark is due almost entirely to the excellent work of Montas over his past six outings (1.89 ERA, 38 innings pitched). The A’s have leaned on Manaea, Irvin, Paul Blackburn and James Kaprielian to start the team’s remaining games, but each of them has an ERA of 4.94 or worse since Bassitt’s injury.

The A’s aren’t technically eliminated from winning the division just yet, although at seven games back, their chances of doing so are all but nonexistent. Oakland’s best path to the postseason will be to secure the second Wild Card spot in the American League. That spot currently belongs to the Blue Jays, who lead the Yankees by a half game, the A’s by two games and the Mariners by three games.

A’s Place Daulton Jefferies On 10-Day Injured List, Return James Kaprielian To Rotation

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The A’s placed righty Daulton Jefferies on the 10-day injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis and recalled southpaw Sam Moll to claim his roster spot, per the team. Jefferies was supposed to start today, but the injury unfortunately delays his joining the rotation.

James Kaprielian, who was demoted to the bullpen in favor of Jefferies, will now step back into the rotation for his regular turn on the bump. Kaprielian will presumably need to turn around his performance quickly in order to make the most out of this second chance. The Athletics hopes that Chris Bassitt will be back in the rotation shortly, which could again send Kaprielian to the pen.

Kaprielian’s overall numbers this season are decent: he’s posted 1.3 rWAR/1.0 fWAR over 20 starts totaling 105 1/3 innings. Those numbers with his 4.02 ERA/4.46 FIP make for a serviceable rotation arm, if not one guaranteed innings on a first division squad. Over his past eight stars, however, he’s been tagged for a 6.51 ERA/5.01 FIP, prompting the move to the bullpen.

As for Moll, he returns for his third stint in the Majors this season. The 29-year-old Tennessee native has made just four appearances over his first couple of turns upstairs, though he’s done well in the short sample, keeping opponents scoreless over 4 2/3 innings.

Latest On Chris Bassitt

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Baseball was the least of Chris Bassitt’s concerns after the Athletics right-hander was hit in the face by a Brian Goodwin line drive on August 17, as Bassitt had to undergo surgery to fix fractures in his jaw and cheek.  When Bassitt emerged from that surgery, however, his focus turned towards returning to the mound before the end of the 2021 season, and he now looks closer to making that hope into a reality.

Bassitt took part in some fielding drills today and also threw his first bullpen session, tossing 35 pitches.  He is slated for another bullpen Wednesday under simulated-game conditions.  It isn’t yet known what path the A’s will take with Bassitt after Wednesday’s session, though manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters that Bassitt could end up pitching “multiple outings” before the year is out.

Depending on Bassitt’s progress, this could mean multiple starts, multiple appearances as a reliever, or perhaps a mixture of both.  Bassitt told Gallegos and other media that he is open to working in whatever capacity the A’s need as the team continues to battle for a wild card spot.

“I’m surprised it’s going as smoothly as it is because of how much crap was wrong,” Bassitt said.  “But once I had surgery and realized I’m going to be OK, I’m not surprised after that. I can deal with uncomfortable stuff.  Watching the guys out there grinding and trying to get to the postseason is all the motivation I need.”

Bassitt was enjoying another standout season in Oakland’s rotation, posting a 3.22 ERA/3.76 SIERA over 151 innings with a very strong 5.7% walk rate and an above-average 25.2% strikeout rate.  Potentially losing him as a full-time starter would undoubtedly be a blow for the Athletics, yet Bassitt might represent quite a weapon for an A’s bullpen that has seen its share of struggles in recent weeks.  All will depend on Bassitt’s health, of course, though Bassitt as a multi-inning reliever or perhaps as a bulk pitcher (behind an opener) would strongly bolster the Athletics’ pitching mix down the stretch.

A’s Loaded Arbitration Class Will Lead To Some Tough Decisions

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The Athletics are squarely in the mix for the second American League Wild Card and, with six remaining games against the first-place Astros still on the schedule, are still alive in the division chase in the American League West as well. Oakland currently trails Houston by four and a half games, so with 28 games left to play, there’s time for a surge to overtake the current leaders.

Oakland’s proximity to a division title and their (at the time) status as a team in possession of the second Wild Card spot surely emboldened the team to go for it at this year’s trade deadline. The acquisition of Andrew Chafin was a solid addition to an already-sound bullpen, but it was the team’s trade for Starling Marte that really grabbed headlines. That’s in part due to Marte’s status as one of the more prominent names on the summer trade market but also due to the fact that Oakland parted with longtime top prospect Jesus Luzardo — five years of control over him to be exact — in exchange for a rental player who’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

At the time of the trade, I touched on this a bit, but it’s a concept  that bears a bit more detail. The Athletics have every reason to act aggressively on the trade deadline this summer, because barring a major uptick in the team’s typically thrifty payroll, this could be something of a last hurrah for the current Oakland core.

The A’s don’t have much on the payroll next season — just Elvis Andrus $14MM salary (of which the Rangers are paying $7.25MM) and Stephen Piscotty’s $7.25MM salary. The A’s have a $4MM club option on Jake Diekman that comes with a $750K buyout as well. Most clubs would probably pick that up given his strong season, but it’s at least feasible that given the forthcoming payroll crunch that will be laid out here shortly, the A’s could pass on it.

Those minimal contractual guarantees look nice at first glance, but the Athletics have an enormous arbitration class on the horizon — and it’s not just large in terms of volume. It’s a talented and experienced group of players featuring the majority of Oakland’s most recognizable names: Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Ramon Laureano, Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino, Chad Pinder, Tony Kemp, Deolis Guerra, Burch Smith and (depending on his final service time numbers) perhaps Adam Kolarek. Of that bunch, Manaea and Bassitt are up for their final arbitration raises — the former as a Super Two player. Chapman, Olson, Montas and Trivino are getting their second raises.

I wanted to better ascertain just how expensive a class this is going to be for the Athletics, so I reached out to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for some help. Matt created MLBTR’s Arbitration Projection model, and I asked if he’d be able to put together some projections for the Athletics’ class based on the seasons they’ve had to date. Matt did just that, tacking on each player’s rest-of-season projections from the Steamer projection system to their actual production to date, coming up with the following projections:

  • Matt Olson: $11.8MM
  • Sean Manaea: $10.1MM
  • Matt Chapman: $9.8MM
  • Chris Bassitt: $8.9MM
  • Frankie Montas: $4.8MM
  • Lou Trivino: $3.0MM
  • Ramon Laureano: $2.8MM
  • Chad Pinder: $2.7MM
  • Tony Kemp: $1.8MM
  • Burch Smith: $1MM
  • Deolis Guerra: $900K
  • Adam Kolarek: $800K

(One caveat on the projections themselves: these raises are determined using the 2021 model and standard inflation for the 2022 season. Major League Baseball and the MLBPA agreed not to use 2021 arbitration raises as precedent-setters because of the anomalous nature of last year’s short-season data.)

In all, it’s a projected total of $58.4MM. Add that to the combined salaries of Andrus and Piscotty, and the A’s are up to $72.4MM — $76.4MM if they exercise the option on Diekman. That’s what they’d owe to just 15 players. There are some possible non-tenders in there (Smith and Kolarek, certainly), but for the most part, all of the major names should be expected to be tendered. We don’t know precisely what next year’s minimum salary will be due to the expiring collective bargaining agreement, but even filling out the roster with players earning this year’s minimum would take them up to nearly $80MM — about $6MM shy of their current payroll.

Of course, we know that you can’t simply supplement this group with pre-arbitration players, because the rest of the current roster isn’t made up of pre-arb players. The A’s currently stand to lose not only Marte but also Mark Canha, Yan Gomes, Yusmeiro Petit, Sergio Romo, Jed Lowrie, Mitch Moreland, Josh Harrison, Mike Fiers and Khris Davis to free agency. Replace that group with readily available, in-house options and you’re probably not looking at a playoff team — certainly not with the Mariners, Angels and Rangers both looking to improve their rosters this winter, making for even tougher competition within the division.

The A’s have never carried an Opening Day payroll greater than $92MM, per Cot’s Contracts — their prorated 2020 payroll may have gotten there — so an arbitration class worth more than $55MM is an immensely expensive group for ownership. Some of this crunch could be alleviated by trying to find a taker for Andrus and/or Piscotty, though moving either player might necessitate the A’s paying some of the freight (or taking a lesser contract in return). As previously mentioned, some non-tenders could get the bottom-line number down as well.

It’s always possible, too, that ownership simply bites the bullet and pays up for a franchise-record payroll. We haven’t seen that level of spending in the past, though, and this is the same A’s team that only agreed to pay its minor leaguers a $400 weekly stipend after considerable public relations backlash during last summer’s pandemic — a move that only cost them about a million dollars. The A’s also had the Marlins foot the bill for all of Marte’s remaining salary. Perhaps that was in preparation for a payroll hike this winter, but that’d be a rather charitable interpretation when history and precedent tell us this is a team that is already pushing the upper levels of its comfort from a payroll standpoint.

All of this is to say: the Athletics certainly have the look of a team that is going to have to make some tough decisions this winter. They can either take payroll to new heights, look to move Andrus and/or Piscotty (which would likely mean attaching a prospect and further depleting a thin farm), or listen to offers on some names who’ve become staples on the roster.

Parting with a starter such as Manaea or Bassitt would be difficult, but both are slated to become free agents following the 2022 season. Both Chapman and Olson have two arbitration raises left, which means both are going to be owed a raise on top of that already sizable arbitration projection following the ’22 campaign. Both are on a path toward $15MM-plus salaries in 2023 — especially if Chapman is able to maintain his recent surge at the plate and return to his pre-hip surgery levels of offensive output.

Whatever route the Athletics ultimately decide to take, the organization and its fans are in for a good bit of change this winter. That could mean changes to the payroll or changes to the composition of a core group of players who’ve been quite successful since coming together a few years back. Regardless of which path they choose, it’s understandable that the A’s opted to be aggressive at this year’s deadline; with Canha, Marte and several relievers set for free agency and a huge arbitration class that could force some financially-motivated trades, this looks like the current group’s best and perhaps final chance to make a deep playoff run together.

Athletics Select Paul Blackburn

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The Athletics announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Paul Blackburn. He’ll get the start in tonight’s game against the White Sox. Oakland placed starter Chris Bassitt on the 10-day injured list to open an active roster spot, while the club already had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster.

Blackburn appeared in the majors for Oakland in every season from 2017-20. Tonight will mark his first big league outing this year, as he’s spent the year with Triple-A Las Vegas after being passed through outright waivers in February.

Over the past four seasons, Blackburn took the ball 21 times (18 starts), working 99 2/3 innings. He’s only managed a 5.69 ERA at the highest level, thanks largely to his trouble missing bats. Blackburn has struck out just 11.9% of opposing hitters — a little more than half the league average — with a tiny 7.1% swinging strike rate.

Despite the lack of swing-and-miss stuff, Blackburn looks like a capable fill-in for the starting staff. He’s a very good strike-thrower, walking hitters at a minuscule 6.5% career clip. The sinkerballer has also had plenty of success keeping the ball down, racking up groundballs at a huge 53.2% rate in the majors. It’s been more of the same for Blackburn in 2021, as he’s induced grounders on 53.9% of balls in play at Triple-A. His 20% strikeout rate with the Aviators is still below-average, but it’s Blackburn’s best mark at any level of his professional career.

Oakland also offered an update on Bassitt, who sustained fractures to his right cheek and jaw after being struck by a 100 MPH line drive in a terrifying incident during last night’s start. A’s trainer Nick Paparesta told reporters (including Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News) Bassitt is expected to undergo surgery next Tuesday. Paparesta estimated it’d take around six weeks for the bones to heal. General manager David Forst said the team is understandably more concerned about Bassitt’s individual well-being than a potential timeline for his return to action at this point, but he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Bassitt making it back to the mound this season (via Rubin).

Chris Bassitt To Undergo Surgery For Facial Fractures After Being Struck By Line Drive

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10:30am: The Athletics announced that Bassitt “received stitches for two facial lacerations and was diagnosed with a displaced tripod fracture in his right cheek that will require surgery.” Vision tests and a CT scan revealed no additional damage, and Bassitt also avoided any damage to his orbital bone. He’s been released from the hospital for the time being.

Aug. 18, 8:20am: Bassitt sustained fractures to his cheekbone and upper jawbone, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, but all other tests have come back clean and his vision is unaffected. He’ll require surgery in the next three to five days once the swelling has subsided.

Aug. 17, 10:10pm: Manager Bob Melvin spoke to reporters on Zoom after the game and provided the following update (Twitter link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle):

“Bass is conscious. He was the entire time. We don’t think the eye is a problem at this point. It felt like it was below it. He’s got some cuts. They had to do some stitches. He’s in a scan and we’ll know more about potential fractures tomorrow or later tonight.”

8:12pm: In a frightening scene at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday evening, Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt was carted off the field after being struck on the side of the head by a comeback line drive off the bat of White Sox outfielder Brian Goodwin. Bassitt spent several minutes down on the mound with the training staff, who held multiple towels to the side of his face. He was eventually helped onto the cart and driven off the field, still clutching a towel to the side of his head.

The Athletics, thankfully, have issued the following statement:

“Chris Bassitt is conscious and aware, and is on his way to the hospital. We will provide additional information when possible.”

The overwhelming concern right now is not on the outcome of the game itself or potential impact on playoff races, but rather on Bassitt’s overall health and well-being. The line-drive left Goodwin’s bat at just over 100 mph, per Statcast, and Bassitt did not appear to deflect the ball prior to contact. Players on the field were visibly shaken — Bassitt’s teammates and his opponents alike.

Bassitt, 32, is in the midst of the finest season of his career, having emerged as the top starter on the Oakland staff. He’s carrying a 3.04 ERA through 151 innings this season and entered play ranked third in total innings among all MLB pitchers.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

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The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

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Athletics, Astros Name Starters For First Two Games Of ALDS

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The Oakland A’s will switch up their starting rotation heading into their ALDS series with the Houston Astros. Chris Bassitt – who started the 2nd game of the wild card series – will take the hill in the series opener, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (via Twitter).

It would be easy to confuse Bassitt for a fungible back-end rotation type, but he’s been a consistent performer for Oakland over the years. This season represented a breakout of sorts for the 31-year-old, who went 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA/3.59 FIP over 11 starts in the regular season. He went 7 innings, giving up just 1 earned run to keep the A’s season alive in game 2 of the wild card round against the White Sox.

Lefty Sean Manaea will look for postseason redemption when he gets the ball in game 2, per Gallegos. Manaea – Gallegos reminds us – gave up 3 home runs over just two innings last season in a wild card game loss to the Rays. He’ll be familiar with his surroundings at Dodger Stadium, as his last start came in that very park a little under two weeks ago. For the year, Manaea went 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA/3.71 FIP in 11 starts.

Manaea is one of a number of southpaws the A’s could throw at the Astros, who as a team marked a 94 wRC+ against lefties in 2020 versus 102 wRC+ against right-handers. Alex Bregman crushed lefties in 2020 for a 166 wRC+, but each of Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, and Kyle Tucker performed markedly better versus right-handers this season.

After Bassitt and Manaea, the A’s could go in a number of different directions, which will likely depend on the results of the first two games. Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo, Mike Minor, and Mike Fiers could all be possibilities to start games 3 through 5. That group gives the A’s a slight advantage over the Astros when it comes to their rotations, writes MLB.com’s Andrew Simon.

It would be quite the showdown for Fiers to get a start late in this series. Fiers, of course, famously outed the Astros in the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the baseball world last winter. The Astros and A’s already have enough to fight about given the early-season altercation between Ramon Laureano and Astros’ hitting coach Alex Cintron, which led to suspensions for the involved parties.

All that said, Fiers may very well not be the best option for the A’s. Though he started the deciding third game of the wild card series, he lasted just 1 2/3 innings. In prior seasons, he’s been passed over for key postseason starts both with the Astros and the Athletics. Luzardo is certain to land higher on the pecking order than Fiers, though he could be utilized out of the bullpen as he was in 2019. The same can be said for Montas, who came out of the bullpen for a two-inning stint against the White Sox.

On the other side, manager Dusty Baker announced Lance McCullers Jr. and Framber Valdez as the starters for games 1 and 2, respectively, per the Athletic’s Jake Kaplan and others. The only real surprise here is that Zack Greinke would then be held out until game 3. Greinke is less likely than others to show up out of the bullpen the way Valdez did in game 1 of the wild card series. Still, with a 5-game series in 5 days, there figures to be less opportunity for that sort of roster manipulation. There will be a game 3, and no matter how the first two games of the series go, the Astros figure to feel pretty good with a rested Greinke ready to go in game 3. Baker, to be clear, has not named his game 3 starter.

Athletics To Activate J.B. Wendelken

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Athletics righty J.B. Wendelken will return from the injured list in time to be included on tomorrow’s postseason roster, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland placed the righty on the injured list over the weekend without specifying a reason. While the vague nature of his placement and his quick return suggest that he was very likely on the Covid-19 injured list, that doesn’t mean Wendelken ever tested positive. Players can be placed on the Covid-19 IL for experiencing symptoms or if they come into contact with someone who previously tested positive.

Wendelken, 27, has quietly emerged as a key member of the Oakland relief corps. He’s racked up 25 innings with a 1.80 ERA and 3.07 FIP in 2020, averaging 11.2 strikeouts, 4.0 walks and 0.72 homers per nine innings along the way. Dating back to the 2018 season, Wendelken has given the Athletics 74 1/3 innings with a 2.30 ERA, a 3.03 FIP and well north of a punchout per inning pitched. This year, Wendelken ranks well above average in fastball velocity, fastball spin, average exit velocity, opponents’ hard-hit rate and expected ERA, per Statcast.

A deep bullpen mix will be crucial against a formidable White Sox lineup that features multiple legitimate MVP candidates in Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson. That duo, plus the presence of Eloy Jimenez, make Wendelken all the more important, as he’s held opposing righties to a .205/.266/.319 slash in his career — including a .175/.226/.246 slash in 2020. Wendelken may well relish the chance to the White Sox, who traded him to Oakland in exchange for Brett Lawrie back in the 2015-16 offseason.

That’s not the only notable bit of pitching news for the A’s today. The club announced on Twitter that rookie left-hander Jesus Luzardo will get the nod to start Game 1 of this week’s Wild Card series against the ChiSox, with right-hander Chris Bassitt lined up to take the hill in Game 2. Bassitt, like Wendelken, will be in line to make his postseason debut against the team that traded him to the Athletics.

Athletics Avoid Arbitration With Marcus Semien, Liam Hendriks

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The Athletics have avoided arbitration with a series of key players. Of particular note, shortstop Marcus Semien will earn $13MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

Increasingly excellent reliever Liam Hendriks also gets a nice boost, checking in at $5.3MM, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Ditto outfielder Mark Canha, who’ll earn $4.8MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).

Also securing notable numbers were lefty Sean Manaea ($3.75MM) and outfielder Robbie Grossman ($3.725MM) with those reports also coming from the Twitter accounts of Slusser and Nightengale. Righty Chris Bassitt also finished off a $2.25MM deal at the last moment, Slusser tweets, thus completing the Oakland arb business for the offseason.

As compared to the projected arb values, most of the numbers don’t stand out. Semien is half a million shy of the mark set by the model, while Hendriks ($200K) and Canha ($100K) also come in just under that level. Manaea and Grossman bettered their projections ($3.5MM and $3.3MM, respectively) while Bassitt fell shy of his ($2.8MM).

It remains to be seen whether there’ll be further contract talks between the A’s and Semien, who stands out as an extension target as he enters his final season of team control. In all likelihood, it would take a team-record contract to keep him around after a breakout 2019 campaign. Hendriks is also slated to hit the open market at the close of the coming season.

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