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Athletics Reinstate Darell Hernaiz

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The Athletics announced today that infielder Darell Hernaiz has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. In corresponding moves, infielder Brett Harris was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas and right-hander Luis Medina was transferred to the 60-day IL. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 40.

Acquired from the Orioles in the 2023 Cole Irvin trade, Hernaiz was added to Oakland’s 40-man roster in November of last year to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He then made the club’s Opening Day roster here in 2024 but hit just .182/.243/.182 in his first 75 major league plate appearances. In early May, he landed on the IL due to a severe left ankle sprain that has kept him out of action for roughly the past three months.

The A’s will naturally be hoping for more offense now that he’s healthy. Considering he’s slashed .300/.376/.418 at the Triple-A level between last year and this year, it’s a reasonable expectation on their part. He’s capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop and will likely rotate between those spots.

As for Medina, this transfer was inevitable as it was reported last week that he would require Tommy John surgery. He’ll remain on the 60-day IL for the remainder of the year but will need to be reinstated after the season is over, as there’s no IL between the World Series and Spring Training.

Luis Medina, Alex Wood To Undergo Season-Ending Surgeries

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The 2024 season is over for a pair of A’s starters. Manager Mark Kotsay told reporters on Thursday that right-hander Luis Medina will undergo Tommy John surgery next month. Meanwhile, veteran southpaw Alex Wood is headed for a shoulder procedure to address rotator cuff tendinitis (via the MLB.com injury tracker).

Neither development is all that surprising. The A’s announced earlier this week that Medina had suffered ligament damage in his elbow.  While he went for additional evaluation in the hope of avoiding surgery, that’s generally something of a long shot. Medina is now set to miss most or all of next season.

Acquired as part of the Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees, Medina has pitched in parts of two seasons for Oakland. He turned in a 5.42 ERA across 109 2/3 innings as a rookie. The 25-year-old made eight starts this year, allowing 5.18 earned runs per nine through 40 frames. He struck out 17.8% of opponents while walking more than 11% of batters faced. Medina will collect service time while he’s on the injured list. The A’s can move him to the 60-day IL during the season to open a spot on the 40-man roster. They’ll need to put him back on the 40-man or waive him next winter.

Wood signed an $8.5MM free agent deal in February. The A’s were hoping for a rebound year from the veteran southpaw, who could have been a midseason trade chip if healthy. That unfortunately was not to be. Wood pitched nine times, allowing a 5.26 ERA over 39 1/3 innings. He posted subpar strikeout and walk numbers before going on the IL in mid-May. Oakland transferred him to the 60-day injured list a few weeks later.

It’s a third straight disappointing season for Wood, who last managed a sub-4.00 ERA with the Giants in 2021. He’ll return to free agency at the start of the offseason and turns 34 in January. It’s possible he’s limited to minor league offers heading into next season. The A’s didn’t provide much detail on the nature of the shoulder surgery nor specify whether Wood is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

Athletics’ Luis Medina Being Evaluated For UCL Injury

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The A’s received a pair of unwelcome injury updates over the weekend, when righty Luis Medina was diagnosed with an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and outfielder Esteury Ruiz was pulled back from a minor league rehab assignment due to lingering discomfort in his ailing wrist (links to X via Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Medina is headed for a second opinion on his elbow. Ruiz’s wrist will be reevaluated by a doctor today.

The 25-year-old Medina came to the A’s alongside lefties JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk in the trade that sent Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. As it’s turned out, four of the five pitchers involved in that swap — Medina, Waldichuk, Montas, Trivino — have incurred significant injuries since the deal came together. Waldichuk and Trivino both had Tommy John surgery. Montas underwent shoulder surgery. Medina is now facing a prolonged absence himself, in all likelihood.

Medina started 17 games for the A’s last season. He struggled to an ERA north of 5.00 on the season as a whole but was generally solid after a shaky start. In his final 80 innings last year, the hard-throwing right-hander posted a 4.39 ERA (3.82 FIP, 4.75 SIERA) with a 22.3% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and 44.3% ground-ball rate. Command has been an issue for Medina in the majors and upper minors alike, but that decent stretch over the final three months of the ’23 campaign was enough to land Medina a rotation opportunity in 2024.

He missed the first two-plus months of the season after sustaining a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during spring training, but upon returning, Medina looked similar to that June through September form from last summer. From June 2 through July 6, Medina pitched 35 innings of 4.37 ERA ball across seven starts. His strikeout rate (15.9%) was down, as was his velocity (only by about 0.4 mph), but neither seemed like a major red flag for a pitcher returning from a notable knee injury. He was pulled mid-inning after giving up six runs in five frames against the Red Sox on July 11, however, and placed on the injured list with an elbow sprain shortly thereafter.

A confirmed UCL injury and second opinion from an external source are never good signs for any pitcher. There’s no indication yet that Medina will require surgery, but a the majority of UCL sprains culminate in Tommy John surgery, an internal brace procedure, or a hybrid of the two. There are certainly cases of pitchers rehabbing a UCL sprain and never requiring surgery — Medina’s own teammate, Mason Miller, missed four months with a sprain last year and has been dominant since returning — but those are more the exception than the rule. If Medina ultimately requires surgery, it could knock him out for a year or more, but he and the A’s will be hoping he can emulate Miller’s path.

As for Ruiz, he swiped 67 bases in 132 games last season but did so with a well below-average .254/.306/.345 batting line. He posted an even rougher .200/.270/.382 slash in 65 plate appearances this season. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A on April 1, and he hit .326/.423/.581 with three homers and seven steals in 11 games before being recalled to the majors and continuing to struggle at the plate. He’s been out since May 22 with a left injury that apparently hasn’t healed all the way just yet.

Ruiz’s gaudy minor league numbers continue to impress, but he’s yet to establish himself as a viable big league hitter (.243/.297/.343) and has thus far looked more the part of a fourth outfielder than a starter. He’s been leapfrogged by fellow trade acquisition JJ Bleday on the center field depth chart. Bleday is hitting .233/.314/.432 (114 wRC+) with a dozen homers in 405 plate appearances.

A’s Designate Aaron Brooks For Assignment

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The A’s announced this morning that they’ve activated right-hander Luis Medina from the 60-day injured list. To make room for Medina on both the club’s active and 40-man rosters, right-hander Aaron Brooks was designated for assignment.

Brooks, 34, signed with the A’s on a minor league deal over the winter and was called up last month to help fill out the club’s rotation mix amid a number of injuries to key veterans such as Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, and Paul Blackburn. He ultimately made four starts for the A’s, pitching to a 5.82 ERA with a 5.59 FIP in 21 2/3 innings of work with a strikeout rate of just 10% against a 6% walk rate. With potential long-term pieces like JP Sears and Mitch Spence currently filling out the rest of the club’s rotation mix, Brooks’s mediocre performance wasn’t enough to justify a rotation spot for the righty now that Medina is healthy enough to take the mound.

Going forward, the A’s will have one week to either trade Brooks or attempt to pass the veteran righty through waivers. Should he clear waivers, the veteran would have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency should he wish to do so. Despite his lackluster results this year, it’s feasible that a club in need of starting pitching depth could have interest in the righty. After all, he’s a veteran of six major league seasons who has compiled 56 appearances and 32 starts in the majors during that time as a back-end starter and long reliever who enjoyed some success overseas while pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2020-21.

Brooks’s spot both on the 40-man roster and in the starting rotation will be taken by Medina, who the A’s acquired alongside Sears and Ken Waldichuk in the Frankie Montas trade at the 2022 trade deadline. The 25-year-old made his big league debut with the A’s last year and struggled to a 5.42 ERA in 23 appearances, 17 of which were starts. Medina’s difficulties at the big league level were primarily attributable to his unsightly 11.5% walk rate, which clocked in less than ten points below his 21.4% strikeout rate.

Despite those ugly peripheral marks, Medina’s 96.1 mph average velocity on his fastball offers plenty of reason for excitement about his abilities if he figure out his command, and his performance improved as the 2023 season continued with a 4.22 ERA and 4.04 FIP in his final 70 1/3 innings of work last year. Medina’s tantalizing upside made him a strong candidate for the fifth starter role in Oakland entering the season until he found himself sidelined by a grade 2 MCL sprain in early March. Medina has been shelved ever since, but now is healthy enough for the A’s to once again offer him the opportunity to join their rotation alongside Sears, Spence, Joey Estes, and Hogan Harris.

Athletics Select Max Schuemann

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The Athletics announced that outfielder Brent Rooker has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a costochondral cartilage injury. Infielder/outfielder Max Schuemann was selected to take Rooker’s place on the active roster. To open a spot for Schuemann on the 40-man, right-hander Luis Medina was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Rooker was removed from Sunday’s game to due abdominal soreness, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com, and hasn’t played since. Costochondral cartilage is connected to the ribs, which tracks with his reported soreness. The club has not provided any timeline for Rooker’s expected absence.

He had a late-bloomer breakout last year at the age of 28, hitting 30 homers for the A’s tough also striking out at a 32.7% clip. He played in eight games this year, starting in right field twice but mostly serving as the designated hitter. His absence will mean the club can rotate various guys through the DH slot and give plate appearances to their young and developing hitters.

It will also allow Schuemann to make it to the majors for the first time in his career, just a couple of months ahead of his 27th birthday, which is in June. A 20th-round selection of the A’s in the 2018 draft, Schuemann didn’t get a lot of attention from prospect evaluators until a breakout season in 2021.

That year, he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, playing 119 games between those three levels. He paired a 10.1% walk rate with a 19.6% strikeout rate and slashed .271/.372/.388 for a wRC+ of 111. He also stole 52 bases in 57 tries and bounced around to various infield and outfield positions.

Going into 2022, Baseball America ranked him the #27 prospect in the system while FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention. That year, he continued to get on base at a decent clip and steal bases at the Double-A level, but he struck out in 39% of his Triple-A appearances. That was in a small sample of 41 trips to the plate over 11 games, but it perhaps suggested he was overmatched at the top level of the minors.

But Schuemann continued to improve in 2023. He finally got an extended stretch of Triple-A playing time, 433 plate appearances in 103 games, and responded well. He only hit nine home runs but drew walks at a 14.3% rate while keeping his strikeouts down to a 20.1% clip. He slashed .277/.402/.429  for a wRC+ of 109 while stealing 20 bases in 29 tries.

Per Melissa Lockard of The Athletic, Schuemann went to the Dominican Republic for some winter ball a few months back but was hit in the head with a pitch in his first game, then sat out the rest of the season. Whatever effects there were from that HBP seemed to have passed by the spring, as he hit .294/.405/.382 during Cactus League play.

During his minor league career, Schuemann has played all four infield positions and all three outfield spots. He’ll presumably plug into that roll for the big league club, bouncing all around the diamond as needed while the rebuilding A’s audition their young players for roles in the future of the club.

As for Medina, he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in early March. His timeline isn’t clear but he hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment and the club evidently doesn’t expect him back soon. This transfer means he will be eligible to be activated before late May.

Athletics Select Kyle McCann

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The Athletics announced a series of Opening Day roster moves today. They selected the contract of catcher Kyle McCann and placed left-hander Sean Newcomb and infielder Aledmys Diaz on the 60-day injured list. Those two IL placements open spots for McCann and for lefty T.J. McFarland, who was acquired from the Dodgers earlier this week. Pitchers Scott Alexander, Luis Medina and Freddy Tarnok were placed on the 15-day IL while outfielder Miguel Andújar was placed on the 10-day IL.

McCann, 26, cracks a big league roster for the first time. A fourth-round pick from the 2019 draft, he was considered one of the club’s top 30 prospects in 2020 and 2021 but fell off after he struggled mightily in first taste of Double-A. He played 93 games there in 2021 but hit just .166/.283/.275, striking out in 37.1% of his plate appearances.

Since then, the strikeout problems have lingered but things have gone a bit better when he does put the bat on the ball. He split 2022 between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 20 home runs that year while slashing .234/.338/.444. He struck out at 33.4% clip but also drew walks 12.2% of the time and his overall performance translated to a 100 wRC+, exactly average.

Last year, he struck out in 32.2% of his appearances, all at Triple-A, but hit 17 homers and slashed .270/.351/.474 for a wRC+ of 97. In this year’s Spring Training, he was punched out in 40.6% of his 32 plate appearances but also drew walks 15.6% of the time and hit two dingers for a .231/.375/.500 batting line.

Prior to this move, the A’s only had two catchers on their 40-man roster in Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom. The latter was optioned to Triple-A a couple of weeks ago, with the club seemingly preferring for him to have regular playing time as opposed to sitting on the bench as the backup to Langeliers. McCann will get to join the big league club and will be making his debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Newcomb has been battling soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee and it seemed the A’s don’t expect him to be able to return between now and late May. The same goes for Díaz, who has dealt with both a groin strain and a calf strain this spring.

Luis Medina Diagnosed With Grade 2 MCL Sprain; Freddy Tarnok Shut Down

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12:20pm: The A’s have also shut Tarnok down for the time being, tweets Gallegos. The 25-year-old experienced a “flare-up” in his surgically repaired right hip and isn’t throwing at the moment. Tarnok underwent surgery to repair the labrum and some cartilage in his hip last August.

With just over three weeks until Opening Day, this update likely takes Tarnok out of the mix for a rotation job. The former Braves farmhand, acquired as part of last offseason’s Sean Murphy trade, missed the first few months of the ’23 season with a shoulder strain and pitched only 36 1/3 innings between the minors and the big leagues last year. Baseball America ranked Tarnok 25th among Oakland prospects this season, noting that a lack of durability and sub-par command point more to a future in the bullpen than the rotation ceiling that looked viable earlier in the righty’s minor league tenure.

11:03am: Athletics righty Luis Medina will begin the season on the injured list after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, manager Mark Kotsay announced this morning (X link via Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Medina exited his most recent spring start with a knee sprain of unknown severity and was seen in the A’s clubhouse on crutches this morning. There’s no firm timetable for Medina’s return to the Oakland roster, but a Grade 2 sprain likely comes with an absence of some note.

Acquired alongside JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk in the trade that sent Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino from the A’s to the Yankees, Medina may have had the inside track on the Athletics’ fifth starter job this spring. Sears, Paul Blackburn and offseason pickups Alex Wood and Ross Stripling are locked into the top four spots, but Medina had more success in the majors than the remainder of the (non-Sears) pitchers the A’s have landed over the course of their current rebuild.

Looking strictly at last year’s 5.42 ERA in 109 2/3 innings, that might not seem to be the case, but Medina was shelled early in his debut campaign before finishing the year on a more solid stretch. Over his final 11 starts and four long-relief appearances, Medina pitched 70 2/3 frames with a 4.22 ERA, albeit with shakier secondary marks.

Medina averaged better than 96 mph on his heater and posted a quality 11.4% swinging-strike rate, but those positives were undercut by subpar command. The right-hander walked more than 11% of his opponents, and that lackluster command contributed to a below-average 21.6% strikeout rate that checks in lower than one would expect for a pitcher with Medina’s velocity and bat-missing ability.

Medina will join Waldichuk (flexor strain/UCL sprain) on the injured list to begin the season. That pair’s subtraction from the team’s Opening Day rotation mix creates some additional competition in camp. Oakland has already optioned rotation hopefuls Adrian Martinez, Hogan Harris and Osvaldo Bido to Triple-A. Righties Joe Boyle, Freddy Tarnok, Joey Estes and Royber Salinas are all still in camp and are all already on the 40-man roster, as is lefty Kyle Muller. Rule 5 right-hander Mitch Spence is also in the mix for a rotation spot.

Injury Notes: Gausman, Kahnle, Bednar, Medina

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Kevin Gausman is dealing with “general fatigue” in his throwing shoulder, manager John Schneider told reporters (including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) on Monday morning. The Blue Jays ace underwent an MRI that fortunately revealed no structural damage or injury. While that’s clearly a relief, there’s going to be some level of concern whenever a pitcher of Gausman’s caliber is battling any kind of shoulder discomfort.

The Jays elected to have Gausman skip his scheduled throwing session on Monday. He’ll be reevaluated later in the week. There’s nothing to suggest his availability for Opening Day is in jeopardy at this point. It’s nevertheless a situation to which the Jays will pay close attention. Alek Manoah is also battling what appears to be minor shoulder soreness. They’re the bookends to a projected rotation that’ll include a middle trio of Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and José Berríos. Right-hander Bowden Francis is probably the top option to step into the season-opening starting five if anyone from that group begins the year on the shelf.

A few other pitching injury situations early this week:

  • Tommy Kahnle hasn’t seen any game action this spring. He has been throwing side sessions, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated the team is bringing him along more deliberately after he finished the 2023 season on the IL with shoulder inflammation (relayed by Greg Joyce of the New York Post). Boone indicated that Kahnle might not get on a Grapefruit League mound until close to the end of camp. That at least raises the possibility of opening the regular season on the 15-day injured list to buy him a little more time to get to full strength. Kahnle logged 40 2/3 innings in his return to the Bronx last year, his heaviest workload since 2019. He turned in a 2.66 ERA with a strong 29.1% strikeout rate in a setup capacity.
  • Pirates closer David Bednar is battling what seems to be minor tightness in his right lat, skipper Derek Shelton said over the weekend (via MLB.com). The two-time All-Star has yet to get on the mound in exhibition play as the team keeps an eye on the situation. Bednar is a force at the back of the Pittsburgh bullpen and one of the sport’s best relievers overall. He has turned in a 2.25 ERA through 179 2/3 innings for the Bucs after his inclusion in the Joe Musgrove trade return. Bednar allowed an even two earned runs per nine over 67 1/3 frames a season ago. He paced the National League with 39 saves.
  • The A’s pulled right-hander Luis Medina in the second inning of today’s Cactus League matchup against the Reds. Oakland announced that he sprained his right knee and didn’t provide any timetable for his return. Medina, a key piece of the Frankie Montas trade return, made his MLB debut last season. He started 17 of 23 appearances as a rookie, turning in a 5.42 ERA across 109 2/3 frames. Medina is battling for the #5 spot in the rotation. Paul Blackburn, JP Sears and offseason acquisitions Ross Stripling and Alex Wood look likely to take the top four jobs. Joe Boyle would be the expected choice for the #5 spot if Medina starts the year on the injured list.

A’s Select Spencer Patton, Option Tyler Soderstrom

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The Athletics announced a handful of roster moves before this evening’s matchup with the Royals. Oakland selected reliever Spencer Patton onto the MLB roster. Starter Luis Medina landed on the 15-day injured list with a blister on the index finger of his throwing hand. The A’s also reinstated first baseman Ryan Noda from the 10-day IL while optioning rookie catcher/first baseman Tyler Soderstrom to Triple-A Las Vegas. To create space for Patton on the 40-man roster, righty James Kaprielian was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day IL after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.

Patton returns to the big leagues a little over three months since being outrighted off the roster. The 35-year-old hurler signed a minor league pact with Oakland in April. He was called up a few weeks later and pitched four times, allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. Patton returned to Las Vegas after clearing waivers and has had an alright showing there in an extremely hitter-friendly setting.

Over 40 outings, he owns a 4.68 ERA through 42 1/3 frames. He has struck out an above-average 24.3% of opposing hitters against a slightly elevated 10.1% walk rate. Including his early-season stint in the Bay Area, Patton has appeared in parts of six big league campaigns for a trio of teams. He has a 5.19 ERA in 109 1/3 MLB innings. Patton is out of minor league options, so the A’s will have to keep him in the big league bullpen or again put him on waivers.

Medina, acquired from the Yankees in the Frankie Montas trade, has had a tough debut campaign. The 24-year-old has started 13 of 18 appearances this year, allowing a 5.44 ERA through 86 frames. His 21.5% strikeout rate and 43.8% grounder percentage aren’t far off the big league averages, but he’s walking 11% of opponents. He’s looking to stake a claim to a rotation spot going into next season but will need at least two weeks off because of the blister issue.

Noda, yet another first-year player, has been one of the A’s best players this year. Selected out of the Dodgers’ system with the second pick in last winter’s Rule 5 draft, he’s reaching base at an excellent .375 clip through his first 90 games. Noda has been very prone to strikeouts, but he has collected 11 homers and is walking in nearly 18% of his plate appearances. He missed around a month with a fractured jaw.

His return pushes Soderstrom off the big league roster. The former first-round pick has been regarded as one of the better offensive talents in the minor leagues. He secured his first big league call during the All-Star Break and has gotten into 27 games. Soderstrom didn’t find initial success, however, mustering only a .165/.237/.247 line while striking out 29 times over 93 trips to the dish. He’s still just 21 years old, so it’s hardly surprising he didn’t hit the ground running at the MLB level. He’ll return to Las Vegas, where he’d hit .254/.303/.536 over 304 plate appearances.

The demotion isn’t likely to have an effect on Soderstrom’s time to arbitration or free agency. He wouldn’t have gotten a full service year in 2023 and was unlikely to accrue enough service time to have a path to Super Two eligibility. However, it could have an impact on his rookie status heading into 2024. Position players retain rookie eligibility if they’ve tallied fewer than 130 at-bats and spent 45 or fewer days on an MLB active roster.

Soderstrom has spent 38 days in the big leagues. If he spends the rest of the year in Las Vegas, he’d remain a rookie heading into next offseason. Assuming he’s still regarded by prospect evaluators as a top 100 caliber talent, which seems likely, the Prospect Promotion Incentive could come into play next spring. Teams that carry a top prospect on the MLB roster for a full service year can receive a draft choice if that player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP voting during their pre-arbitration seasons. There’s been a slew of top prospect promotions over the past few days; Masyn Winn, Noelvi Marté and Kyle Harrison have all gotten their first call once things got deep enough into the summer that they couldn’t exhaust their rookie eligibility this year.

Paradoxically, the promotion incentive could work against Soderstrom getting another MLB look later in the season. That’s not to say it’s the sole or even primary motivation for the A’s sending him down — he has unquestionably struggled in his first five weeks at the MLB level, and Noda’s return would cut into the first base/DH reps available — but could be a factor down the stretch.

Athletics Select Zach Neal, Place Mason Miller On IL With Forearm Tightness

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4:10pm: The A’s announced Neal’s selection, along with the recall of right-hander Luis Medina. In corresponding moves, righty Rico Garcia was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas while righty Mason Miller was placed on the 15-day injured list. Catcher Manny Piña was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man for Neal. Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle relays that Miller’s IL placement is due to right forearm tightness. Pina has been on the IL all year due to a lingering wrist issue and was recently pulled off his rehab after suffering a setback. He won’t be eligible to return until 60 days from the initial IL placement, which would be late May.

10:04am: The A’s are set to select the contract of righty Zach Neal prior to tonight’s game, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’s expected to make a spot start tonight against Nathan Eovaldi and the Rangers. Neal inked a minor league deal with the Athletics last month.

It’ll be the second stint with Oakland for Neal, who also pitched there in 2016-17, logging a combined 4.89 ERA in 30 appearances (six starts). That accounts for the vast majority of Neal’s big league experience, though he also tossed one inning for the Dodgers in 2018. Overall, he carries a 4.94 ERA, 10.5% strikeout rate and 2% walk rate in 85 2/3 innings at the MLB level.

Now 34 years old, Neal hasn’t pitched in the Majors since that one-off  appearance with the ’18 Dodgers. He spent the 2019-21 seasons with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, working to a combined 4.49 ERA with a 12.4% strikeout rate against a 5.6% walk rate. Neal logged a 2.87 ERA in 100 1/3 innings in his first year with the Lions but was north of 5.00 in his second and third seasons in Japan.

Neal spent the 2022 season with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate but was tagged for a 6.87 ERA in that hitter-friendly setting. He’s opened the 2023 campaign with similarly shaky results in another hitter-friendly setting, Las Vegas, allowing seven runs on eight hits and five walks with 11 punchouts in 11 1/3 innings (5.56 ERA).

The A’s have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding transaction to get Neal onto the roster. They’ve already turned over nearly their entire bullpen since the season began and could make yet another move there to accommodate Neal’s addition. Righty Zach Jackson and lefty Sam Moll are the only two members of Oakland’s Opening Day relief corps who are still currently in the bullpen.

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