Elephant Rumblings: Final starter slot coming into focus

MLB news roundup

Welcome to Thursday everyone! The weekend is right around the corner.

The news yesterday about certain injuries to certain pitchers helped everyone get a slightly clearer sense of what the back half of the pitching staff is going to look like come Opening Day. When spring training began, there were roughly 12-14 pitchers who were theoretically candidates for the Opening Day starting rotation. After about two weeks of games, that number has dwindled to about eight.

Realistically though, there are four slots already occupied: righties Paul Blackburn and Ross Stripling, and lefties JP Sears and Alex Wood. Barring an unforeseen pivot to a 6-man rotation, that means there is just one job left open for one of the other four pitchers. Some of those guys have their contract status working in their favor, and some have their contract working against them.

While no one wants their players injured, it actually couldn’t have come at a much better time. Right-hander Luis Medina, entering his sophomore season, suffered a right knee sprain and is going to begin the season on the injured list. Medina reportedly had the inside track on securing that fifth and final starting role but will now be down for a bit as he recovers. Definitely hurts the starting pitching depth of the club but it may be a blessing in disguise.

Due to being out of options, Medina and lefty Kyle Muller will need to begin the year in the majors. Otherwise, they’d be DFA’d and could exit the organization entirely, a terrible outcome considering what the club traded to acquire them. In a perfect world, both of those guys would head to Triple-A to continue developing and growing, but their contractual situation requires them to be with the Athletics. Muller was a primary piece in the return for Matt Olson and started Opening Day last year but really struggled overall in his rookie season with the Athletics. The club will almost certainly roster him to begin the season but possibly out of the bullpen in a long-man role.

Medina meanwhile is more or less in the same boat, except right-handed. A key part of the return package for Frankie Montas, Medina quickly made his big league debut in late April but ran into the customary rookie struggles, though he settled in down the stretch in the final couple of months. Again, he is out of options but can handle a starter’s workload, so a long man role would be the obvious fit for him in this roster.

And that’s a problem. Most teams have a long reliever, but not two. The idea of Muller and Medina both occupying spots in the bullpen is hard to imagine because they both occupy the same role for the A’s. And on top of that, neither of them will be able to really stretch out and practicing being a starting pitcher. It’s the equivalent of having a prospect sitting on the bench in the big leagues. It’d be better to let them get innings/at-bats in the minors than let them ride the pine.

The injury to Medina makes this roster crunch a lot easier to deal with, at least for the time being. Medina’s injury will cause him to open the year on the Major League IL, and more importantly allow him to pitch in Triple-A on a rehab assignment before a mandatory return to the 26-man roster. With the situation regarding the starters and overall pitching staff, the team is going to be incentivized to let Medina take his sweet time recovering from his knee sprain. The longer he’s out, the more time the club has to judge the arms they’ll break camp with.

With Medina out, it would seemingly be a 4-man race for the final rotation spot. Muller, Mitch Spence, Joe Boyle, and Joey Estes. Muller is out of options and is likely to be on the roster one way or another. Meanwhile Mitch Spence was the 2nd overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft and the A’s have every reason to roster him for all 162 games to retain his long-term rights. Boyle and Estes can both be optioned but sure aren’t making these decisions any easier. Both have been looking really promising during the first half of spring. It wouldn’t be stunning to see one of them break camp with the club. Stay tuned!

A’s Coverage:

• Early offense leads the way in A’s 12-5 victory
• Athletics injury notes: Medina, Allen, Diaz, Tarnok
• 5 developments from a promising A’s camp
• MLB.com ranks Jacob Wilson atop new A’s top 30 prospects

MLB News & Interest:

• Nationals sign Eddie Rosario to minors deal
• Red Sox, Brayan Bello in “advanced talks” on contract extension
• Catcher Mike Zunino retires after 11-year MLB career
• Rodon: “Mixed bag” during second spring start
• Dave Roberts: Daniel Hudson to be part of Dodgers’ bullpen
• Royals hurler Tyler Duffey recently underwent procedure to treat melanoma
• MLB The Show 24 unveils female player mode
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

New top prospects list:

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Atlanta’s getting a name-power boost:

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