A’s roster moves: Sean Newcomb activated, Vinny Nittoli promoted

The Athletics announced some roster shuffling just hours before their series opener against the Mariners, making a (partially forced) change to the bullpen:

The big news is the return of Sean Newcomb. The left-handed reliever has missed the whole season up to this point after suffering a sprained knee during spring training. The 30-year old was solid for the Athletics last season, albeit in just seven games. The hope is that Newcomb can show that last year’s September performance wasn’t a fluke and the club is adding a formidable lefty to the ‘pen.

Newcomb isn’t the only one joining the Athletic’s bullpen. Right-hander Vinny Nittoli will also join the A’s for the first time this season, though he’s earned a promotion from Triple-A. In 20 relief outings in the hitter-friendly PCL Nittoli has a shiny 2.70 ERA with an even fancier 36 strikeouts to just 11 walks. This team could use numbers like that with the big league club.

Of course with promotions and activations come demotions. The club also got hit with a suspension today as right-hander Michael Kelly will miss one year on account of betting on baseball. The longtime minor leaguer reportedly bet roughly $100 but will now miss out on hundreds of thousands on account of the suspension. The betting occurred back in 2021 as a minor leaguer for the Houston Astros but it’s the Athletics that will lose a key middle reliever for the rest of the year. He ends the season with a 2.59 ERA in 31 ¹⁄₃ innings.

In addition to the Kelly suspension, the club optioned rookie right-hander Brady Basso back to Triple-A. It’s been back and forth from Vegas to Oakland all season and that doesn’t look like it’ll end anytime soon. Maybe next time he returns he gets into more than just a couple games.