Meet the 2016 Oakland A's spring training roster: Pitchers

With Oakland Athletics pitchers and catchers due to report to camp today, let's meet all these pitchers.

Like last year, I'm going to take you through our spring training roster and give you a quick overview of the position battles and such. We start with pitchers. I have drawn up brief notes on each player invited to A's major league spring camp, and rated their chances of getting on the "25-man" as "Definite", "Probable", "In the mix", "Questionable", or "Doubtful."

A player is doubtful if there is practically no chance that player makes the opening day roster. I would guess the team would make a trade to acquire a better player than allow him to remain on the roster for very long in case injury forces the issue.

A player is questionable if there is a chance that a breakout improvement in the player's tools could allow the team to consider that player. On the flipside, a player is probable if there is a significant chance that a significant drop in the player's skills could cause the team to drop that player in favor of another.

Players are in the mix if there is an open competition for a spot with no clear frontrunner.

Starting pitching

Sonny Gray, Jesse Hahn, and Rich Hill should be your top three, and Chris Bassitt is the frontrunner for the fourth spot in the rotation. It's the fifth spot that is wide open.

That fifth spot should be a competition between Kendall Graveman, Felix Doubront, Sean Nolin (if he clears waivers), Aaron Brooks, and Jarrod Parker.  Felix Doubront will probably become the long reliever if he isn't named the fifth starter. Prospect Sean Manaea could break through, but I would guess all of those options for the fifth spot would have to fall through. The A's have already said they want to give him time in Triple-A.

Whoever wins the fifth spot will have to work hard to stay in the rotation whenever Henderson Alvarez returns from shoulder surgery. Alvarez tells reporters (incl. the SF Chronicle's Susan Slusser) that he's throwing out to 135 feet and, as players are wont to be, extremely optimistic about his return, going so far as to say he wants to be throwing for the A's in April. David Forst pinned a June 1 target date for Alvarez at FanFest.

Dillon Overton and Raul Alcantara are the other starting pitcher prospects in camp besides Manaea. Overton is the closest to the big leagues and will start the year in Triple-A, while Alcantara is probably slated for Double-A. Chris Smith will be a nice option for the Nashville Sounds to have.

Relievers

The bullpen got a complete overhaul during the offseason to the point that there are few questions who will be in the bullpen. Sean Doolittle returns as closer while Ryan Madson, Liam Hendriks, John Axford, and Marc Rzepczynski all were acquired in the offseason. There's a good chance a long relief spot is set aside for Felix Doubront if he doesn't crack the starting rotation. Of the remaining relievers on the 40-man roster, Fernando Rodriguez is the only one who is out of options, so he's a good bet for the last middle reliever spot.

Ryan Dull, R.J. Alvarez, and J.B. Wendelken will be competing for who will be the next right-hander called up in case the A's suffer a bullpen injury.

The A's don't have another LOOGY on the 40-man roster past Marc Rzepczynski, so the next lefty up is pretty wide open between Daniel Coulombe, Eric Surkamp, and Patrick Schuster. Coulombe and Surkamp both pitched in the majors last year, but Schuster has't gotten above Double-A.