Oakland A’s call up Arismendy Alcantara, option Daniel Coulombe

The Oakland Athletics have called up recent acquisition Arismendy Alcántara from Triple-A Nashville, optioning reliever Daniel Coulombe to open a space on the active roster. Alcantara, 24, has been splitting time at second base, shortstop, and center field since he was traded from the Cubs for Chris Coghlan on June 9.

The switch-hitting Alcántara has played 10 games for Nashville, going 6-for-37 with a home run, a triple, three walks, and 15 strikeouts. For the year between Nashville and Iowa, Alcántara is hitting .248/.299/.415, though with a .744 OPS against right-handed pitchers and .621 against left-handers.

Alcántara was a top-100 overall prospect before the 2014 season, but underwhelming MLB performances at the plate for the Cubs make it look like he’s stalled out. The 24-year-old will try to turn it around with Oakland. I suppose one could read Tuesday’s move as an attempt to improve on the barely used Tyler Ladendorf, who was optioned last weekend to call up Andrew Triggs for his start. Alcántara could find time in the outfield and second base, and he could be a sparingly used backup to Marcus Semien at shortstop.

Left-hander Daniel Coulombe returns to Triple-A Nashville. In seven appearances since his June 4 call up, Coulombe allowed four earned runs on three home runs while striking out four and walking one in eight innings for a 4.50 ERA in that stretch.