With Lucas Erceg Headed to the IL, Who Takes Over the 8th for the A's?

May has been an injury plagued month for the Oakland A's. After getting through April unscathed, the pitching staff has drastically changed over the past few weeks. JP Sears is the only healthy pitcher left in the rotation after injuries to Alex Wood (rotator cuff), Ross Stripling (elbow), Joe Boyle (back), and Paul Blackburn (foot). Technically the bullpen still has most of it's members still on the roster, but Mitch Spence is now a part of the rotation, and with that move, just half of the pitchers that started the season in the bullpen are still there today.

Kyle Muller was added to the IL on Thursday, and following the game, A's manager Mark Kotsay told reporters in Tampa Bay that Lucas Erceg was set to land on the IL too. The righty has some forearm tightness that popped up when he was trying to get loose on Tuesday, and he has been sent back to Oakland for evaluation.

This season Erceg has been an underrated complimentary piece to Mason Miller's dominance. The infielder-turned-reliever has a 2.86 ERA on the year with a 3.22 FIP, a 31% strikeout rate, and a career-best 9.2% walk rate. More often than not, if Erceg and Miller have come into a game this year, the A's tend to come out with a win.

The question now is who will be serving as Oakland's eighth inning arm with Erceg out?

Austin Adams would be the logical candidate with a 2.41 ERA, a 32.4% strikeout rate, and a 10.4% walk rate--all similar numbers to what Erceg has provided in his 22 innings. If Adams moves into the eighth, Michael Kelly would be a nice option to fill Adams' role in the seventh. He's posted a 2.67 ERA with a 3.63 FIP. He's also appeared in 27 of the A's 58 games, or nearly half of the total games on the season, but he's also someone that can be deployed in a number of different situations, and Kotsay may not want to give up that flexibility.

Another option for the seventh inning could be a returning Sean Newcomb. The lefty has been out all season after off-season knee surgeries, but on Thursday night in Las Vegas he went 2 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and walking three, while also striking out three. He threw 44 pitches, 22 for strikes. There hasn't been an update on Newcomb's status for a couple of weeks, but following this performance, it's likely that he'll return to the roster sooner rather than later, though he still has weeks left on a rehab assignment if needed.

That said, he has been pitching every fourth day, so the A's may want to try him on shorter rest before they activate him.

One wild card option that could become a member of the A's bullpen is flame-throwing Michel Otanez, a 26-year-old right-hander that the A's signed to a minor league deal in November. In 25 innings in Triple-A this year he holds a 4.68 ERA, with 37 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched. He's also walked 15 batters.

On Thursday night, Otanez held four of the five hardest thrown pitches across Triple-A, ranging from 100.2 miles per hour to 100.9 mph. His four-seamer topped out at 100.6, and his sinker was humming at 100.9. If he can locate those pitches, that's a lethal combination. You throw in an 85 mph slider, and he has some nasty offerings. FanGraphs rated his command at 20 on the 20-80 scout scale, so walks could be an issue, but he could be someone that the A's feel deserves a look in a non-high leverage role.

One issue with calling up Otanez would be that he is not currently on the 40-man roster, which means someone would have to be DFA'd, or an injured player would need to be transferred to the 60-day IL. The same issue arises when the A's decide to activate Newcomb and Luis Medina in the near future, so this may not be Otanez's time based off of current roster construction, but he's someone to keep an eye on.