A’s roster moves: 6 players to COVID IL; prospect Nick Allen called up to majors

The Oakland A’s got some unexpected roster news ahead of their 2022 home opener.

The A’s placed six players on the COVID-19 related injured list Monday afternoon, the team announced. Inclusion on this list can come from a positive test, or simply from showing symptoms even without a test, or just from being deemed a close contact to somebody who might be sick. The players going on the IL today:

• LHP A.J. Puk
• LHP Kirby Snead
• RHP Lou Trivino
• C Austin Allen
• IF Jed Lowrie
• OF Chad Pinder

That group joins RF Stephen Piscotty, who was placed on the COVID IL on Friday. There is no minimum or maximum time limit attached to this IL, so each player will need to return on their own individual timetable as they clear the necessary protocols.

For now though, they’re definitely all out for Monday, with Oakland playing their first home game of the year at the Coliseum. Puk, Snead, and Allen were already on the Restricted List dating back to Friday, since they didn’t make the international trip to Toronto over the weekend, so they had already been replaced on the roster. Three new replacements were added to account for Trivino, Lowrie, and Pinder:

• LHP Sam Selman
• SS Nick Allen
• IF Christian Lopes

Since these are COVID substitutes, the rules are different than normal callups. They do not need to be on the 40-man roster to get this call to the majors, and if they weren’t on it before then their inclusion on that roster now is only temporary. When their substitute assignment is over they can be sent back down (and removed from the 40-man if they weren’t there before) without regard to options status or waivers, no repercussions at all, like it never happened. These almost aren’t transactions at all, but rather a gracious emergency measure.

The big name of this new trio is Allen, who ranks as one of the top prospects in the organization and was already on the 40-man roster. He’s a defensive wizard at shortstop, but still must prove that his promising bat can hold up in the majors. Athletics Nation has been wildly excited about Allen ever since he was drafted out of high school in 2017, and when the 23-year-old takes the field it’ll be his long-awaited MLB debut.

Joining him among the infield ranks will be Lopes, who arrived over the offseason as a minor league free agent and had a solid spring as a non-roster invitee. The 29-year-old has played primarily 2B in his pro career, but has also seen time at 3B, SS, and the corner outfield. This is his first trip to the majors after more than a decade in the minors, as he was drafted out of high school in 2011 by the Blue Jays.

Meanwhile, the bullpen picks up another lefty in Selman. He was claimed off waivers in March and then designated for assignment at the end of the spring, but he remained in the organization at Triple-A. Not even two weeks after his DFA, he’s already back getting a chance in Oakland, after appearing in MLB each of the last three seasons for the Giants and then late last summer for the Angels.

Here’s the updated 28-man roster, which is beginning to get complicated. There are seven players on the COVID list (CV), two on the regular 10-day IL, two on the 60-day IL, and one on the Suspended List. Players marked with an asterisk* are specifically COVID substitutes called up under that special set of rules (Allen and Logue were already on the 40-man, the others were not).