The Oakland A’s called up reliever Ryan Dull, the team announced Monday. To make room on the roster, starter Frankie Montas was optioned back down to Triple-A Nashville.
There’s not much to read into this news other than a matter of scheduling. The A’s have off-days coming up after each of their next three series, which means they won’t need their fifth starter for quite a while — possibly as long as Aug. 14, a full two weeks from now. See below for an illustration of how that could work out.
With a temporary four-man rotation, there’s no reason to keep Montas on the bench. He got knocked around in each of his last two starts, against the Rangers and Rockies in two of the best hitter’s parks in the sport, and now he can keep getting regular work in Triple-A while he waits for his turn to come up again in Oakland.
Montas, 2018: 3.75 ERA, 57⅔ ip, 39 Ks, 19 BB, 4 HR, 3.81 FIP
In the meantime, the A’s have room for an extra arm in the bullpen. Dull will get the first crack, in his continuing quest to recapture his former success as a setup man. He’s struggled to find consistency in the bigs this year, and he allowed runs in each of his last two games in Nashville last week. On the bright side, in four outings since returning to the minors in mid-July, he’s faced 15 batters and struck out nine of them. Overall, he’s struck out 18 of the last 27 batters he’s faced in Triple-A.
Dull, 2018 MLB: 6.00 ERA, 18 ip, 17 Ks, 5 BB, 3 HR, 4.28 FIP, 4-for-5 save/holds
Here’s the longest the A’s could reasonably go without a fifth starter (click here for more info on the rest of the 2018 schedule):
- Jackson (Mon, 7/30, vs. TOR)
- Cahill (Tue, TOR)
- Manaea (Wed, TOR)
- Off-day (Thu, 8/2)
- Anderson (Fri, DET)
Next turn thru:
- Jackson (Sat, 8/4, vs. DET)
- Cahill (Sun, DET)
- Off-day (Mon, 8/6)
- Manaea (Tue, LAD)
- Anderson (Wed, LAD)
Next turn thru:
- Off-day (Thu, 8/9)
- Jackson (Fri, @ LAA)
- Cahill (Sat, @ LAA)
- Manaea (Sun, @ LAA)
- Anderson (Mon, 8/13, vs. SEA)
And then Montas, or Daniel Mengden, on Tuesday (8/14) against the Mariners.
Roster update:
Pitchers | Hitters |
Starters Sean Manaea (L) Edwin Jackson (R) Trevor Cahill (R) Brett Anderson (L) Relievers Blake Treinen (R) Lou Trivino (R) Jeurys Familia (R) Ryan Buchter (L) Yusmeiro Petit (R) Emilio Pagan (R) Chris Hatcher (R) J.B. Wendelken (R) Ryan Dull (R) |
Catchers Jonathan Lucroy (R) Josh Phegley (R) Infielders Matt Olson (L) Jed Lowrie (S) Marcus Semien (R) Matt Chapman (R) Franklin Barreto (R) Outfielders Khris Davis (R) Stephen Piscotty (R) Dustin Fowler (L) Mark Canha (R) Nick Martini (L) |
10-day DL: RHP Paul Blackburn (elbow), OF Matt Joyce (back), UT Chad Pinder (laceration)
60-day DL: RHP Jharel Cotton (TJS), RHP Daniel Gossett (elbow), RHP Andrew Triggs (triceps/nerve), OF Boog Powell (knee)