Oakland A's activate Sean Doolittle, option Dan Otero, transfer Ike Davis to 60-day disabled list

The Oakland Athletics activated left-handed reliever Sean Doolittle from the 60-day disabled list after several strong relief outings with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds ahead of Saturday night's Star Wars Fireworks night game. To clear space on the active roster, right-handed reliever Dan Otero was optioned to Nashville. To clear space on the 40-man roster, first baseman Ike Davis was transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list.

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Sean Doolittle made five relief appearances between August 7–20, accruing 10 strikeouts and walking none in five innings pitched. He struck out the side three times in his five relief innings, and allowed just a solo home run on August 11. Doolittle his 93 on the gun in Nashville, Bob Melvin said, a relief after he topped out at 90 in May.

Doolittle said himself on 95.7 the Game on Friday (audio in embedded player) that he was hitting "92, 93, which is a heck of a lot better than anything I was throwing out the first time around ... all the way back in May."

Doolittle is a noted Star Wars fan, so I wonder if he had tonight's Star Wars Fireworks night as a personal goal for his return.

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Dan Otero unfortunately made the decision to return him to Triple-A pretty easy after he conceded eight runs to the Baltimore Orioles in the 2-18 blowout loss on August 16, bringing his ERA to 7.68 on the season. Otero has warmed up in the bullpen a few times since then, but has not appeared in a game.

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It was already announced that Ike Davis would be getting season-ending surgery, so the move to place him on the 60-day disabled list is not a surprise.