News on Luis Medina, James Kaprielian
In what may seem minor news, but could have a big impact on the 2023 Opening Day roster construction, it was reported that Luis Medina has a fourth option, according to Melissa Lockard of The Athletic.
There had been some confusion whether Medina was out of options or not, and this report confirms that he does in fact have one more remaining. This means that he does not in fact have to be on the A's Opening Day roster to stick with the organization.
The hard-throwing righty struggled with Midland after coming over as part of the Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees. While with New York's Double-A affiliate Medina posted a 3.38 ERA in 72 innings, but was also walking five guys per nine innings. With Midland his ERA and his walk rate skyrocketed in limited innings, with the 23-year-old posting an 11.76 ERA and 9.6 walks per nine across 20 2/3 innings.
It would make sense for the A's to get a good look at him during Spring Training, then assign him to Double-A to make sure that he's ready for the next step. If they go that route, hopefully it would be a confidence booster for him, and the hope would be that he would compete for a rotation spot in 2024.
The other news that came out on Monday was reported by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com, who said that starter James Kaprielian underwent shoulder surgery.
The A's have options to fill in for Kap in the short term, with Paul Blackburn and Cole Irvin virtual locks for the rotation, and Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears having good showings down the stretch as well. Beyond those four, Adam Oller, Adrián Martínez, Zach Logue, and even A.J. Puk, who will be stretched out to start during camp, are all options for a spot on the big league roster.
What is interesting about the tweet above is the phrasing "...unsure if he'll be ready for a starting role to begin the season." It would appear that the A's think he'll be able to pitch in Spring Training, but they aren't sure if he'll be able to have his arm built up enough to join the rotation out of the gate.
This could open up the door for the A's to put Kaprielian in the bullpen, where they attempted to move him at the end of August before Adam Oller missed time due to injury. When Kap returned to the rotation after two weeks, he finished out the season on a high note, allowing just five earned runs in 25 innings across four starts.
He also went at least six innings in each of those four starts, and went seven innings once, too. He had completed six innings just three times in his previous 22 starts, which may have been part of the reason they'd planned on using him out of the bullpen in the first place.