Oakland A’s call up Nick Martini, Ryan Dull

The Oakland A’s made two more September call-ups on Sunday, adding outfielder Nick Martini and reliever Ryan Dull, the team announced.

The pair were expected to be called up last week after Triple-A Nashville’s season ended, but the plan changed due to some new tweaks in the rules, reports Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle. Players who are optioned to the minors normally have to wait 10 days before returning, but they used to be able to waive that period after the minor league team’s season was over. That’s no longer the case, so Martini and Dull (and some others) had to wait a bit longer to come back to Oakland.

In Martini, the A’s have a left-handed hitting outfielder who can get on base out of the leadoff spot. He’d been slowing down in recent weeks, with a .299 OBP and 64 wRC+ in August, but along the way he also chipped in a couple clutch hits to spur a pair of dramatic wins against the Astros.

Martini, 2018: .257/.361/.366, 105 wRC+, 0 HR, 10.9% BB, 20.2% Ks

When Martini was sent down it appeared to be a procedural move to make room for some extra pitching, and the team didn’t seem to expect they’d have to wait so long to bring him back. In the meantime they’ve been able to add Dustin Fowler and Matt Joyce as further lefty options in the outfield, but manager Bob Melvin clearly likes what Martini brings to the table.

“At some point in time Nick Martini is gonna be back here too and we really like him against tough right-handers too,” said Melvin on Friday, in the context of who will lead off in the lineup now that rookie Ramon Laureano has made such a great first impression there.

As for Dull, he’ll join Oakland’s enormous bullpen, which now boasts 15 relievers. The right-hander, who was an excellent setup man as recently as 2016, has spent most of this year in Triple-A and has struggled to find consistency during his frequent but brief stretches in MLB. This is his sixth stint in the bigs this season.

Dull, 2018: 5.31 ERA, 20⅓ ip, 19 Ks, 6 BB, 3 HR, 4.09 FIP

Despite the ugly ERA, Dull has at least converted 4-of-5 hold opportunities when given a lead to protect. Down in the minors he’s struck out nearly one-third of the batters he’s faced.

Here’s the updated roster, which now stands at 36. Starting pitcher Frankie Montas is expected to join the group on Tuesday, according to Slusser.

10-day DL: LHP Brett Anderson (forearm), LHP Sean Manaea (shoulder)

60-day DL: RHP Paul Blackburn (elbow), RHP Jharel Cotton (TJS), RHP Daniel Gossett (TJS), RHP Kendall Graveman (TJS), RHP Andrew Triggs (triceps/nerve), OF Jake Smolinski (blood clot)