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Eric Surkamp is currently scheduled to start for the Oakland A's on Tuesday against the Rangers, but Jesse Hahn might get the call instead according to John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group. Hahn was previously scheduled to start for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds that day, but Nashville's official site now lists Dillon Overton on Tuesday.
This might seem like an obvious move, but it's more complicated than just Hahn being a better option than Surkamp. Hahn was optioned to the minors on May 8, and players on optional assignment must stay down for at least 10 days -- that means Hahn shouldn't be eligible to return until Wed., May 18. However, there is an exception to that rule if another player goes on the disabled list; in such an instance, a player may be brought back before those 10 days have passed.
Therefore, if the A's plan to use Hahn on Tuesday like Hickey reports, then that means someone will have to go on the DL. One obvious option, pointed out earlier by Hickey himself, is Josh Phegley. The catcher hasn't played since May 9 due to a knee issue, for which he received a cortisone shot a few days later. With Matt McBride already on the roster covering for the day-to-day Phegley, they wouldn't need to worry about adding another catcher if Phegs is deactivated, opening the door for Hahn to return early.
For his part, Hahn has made two starts for the A's this season, with a line of 12 ip, 4 ER, 4 Ks, and 6 BB. Those numbers aren't anything special, but they're still far better than Surkamp's 6.55 ERA over five starts (with 12 Ks, 14 BB) and Hahn is still a high-upside 26-year-old who needs to be pitching in the bigs rather than wasting his time in Triple-A. The sooner he is back in the rotation permanently the better, as Oakland can't currently afford to be messing around with anything other than its top five options. Surkamp could stick around as a long reliever, though, as he's far better cast in that role.
More on this developing story if/when further news comes out.
