Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Athletics made a roster move on Saturday, in an effort to shore up a recently taxed bullpen.
After last night’s 8-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in which starter Brett Anderson only lasted one inning with a sprained ankle, Oakland had to do something to alleviate the pressure recently put on its bullpen. Well, the decision has been made: reliever Evan Scribner, who gave up 3 runs and threw 65 pitches in relief yesterday, was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in favor of Jesse Chavez.
Chavez will slide into the bullpen as the requisite “long man” now. That was basically Scribner’s role, but after a lengthy appearance last night he wasn’t going to be available for a few games, according to A’s writer Susan Slusser.
In addition to fresh arms, the A’s bullpen would be benefited by some quality starting pitching, something the team hasn’t had a lot of lately. Jarrod Parker toes the rubber tonight against the Rays and Jeremy Hellickson — and Parker especially could use a solid outing. He’s had a rough start to the 2013 campaign, and hopefully he can figure out what’s going wrong and remedy the situation – because the A’s need to be able to rely on him.
Slusser also noted on Saturday that outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, currently in the middle of a DL stint caused by a sprained muscle in his hand, says that he told her he is “ready” to get himself back in the A’s lineup.
Cespedes isn’t eligible to be activated until April 28th, but he seems to be recuperating steadily from the injury that he suffered last week against the Detroit Tigers. Manager Bob Melvin was “surprised” by the slugger’s progress during batting practice today, so all signs point to an April 28th activation for Cespedes.
Adrian Garro is an Oakland Athletics writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter and/ or add him to your network on Google.
