A's Have a Decision to Make with Former Kansas City Royals Pitcher

The Athletics have had a lot of success with the Rule 5 Draft in the past, and coming into the season, it was looking as though their latest selection, Noah Murdock, formerly of the Kansas City Royals, was their latest literal steal.

He has a sinker that sits in the mid-90's, along with a four-seam fastball, changeup, cutter, and sweeper, though the change and the four-seamer haven't been utilized more than a few times this season. His stuff, according to Stuff+, is solid. The trouble has always been spotting those pitches, which he has continued to struggle with at the big league level.

Across 17 innings of work this year, he has nearly as many walks (20) as strikeouts (21). He also has a 13.24 ERA (4.65 FIP), with outings where he's given up six, five, and seven runs, while allowing a pair twice.

In his most recent outing on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners, the A's were playing their 16th game in 16 days, and the bullpen was taxed. They certainly didn't have a full stable of arms available to them in the final two games of the series against the Seattle Mariners, and it arguably cost them the series, which they could have swept with a stronger bullpen performance.

Murdock tossed a scoreless inning on Tuesday night, and was called to action again on Wednesday afternoon, entereing in the top of the seventh with his team clinging to a 5-4 lead. He was able to get Julio Rodríguez to ground to short to end the seventh, but since the A's lacked arms, he was back out for the top of the eighth.

With one out, he walked Randy Arozarena, and with two away he gave up a single to Leody Taveras that tied the game at five. After Taveras stole second, Dylan Moore doubled him home to give Seattle their first lead of the game.

Of course, part of this equation is that the A's just didn't have their full bullpen ready to go after playing in so many close games of late. They've also been winning a whole bunch, going 10-6 during their stretch without an off-day, and just one of those losses was by more than three runs. Comfortable landing spots just haven't been available to deploy Murdock of late.

Under normal circumstances, the A's would have likely optioned him back to the minors by this point in the season, but given his Rule 5 status, that's not an option for them to consider.

If the A's remove him from the roster, then he would have to be offered back to the Royals, who would gladly have him back in their system while being able to continue his development. The added bonus for the Royals would be that he would be returning to them with some big league experience to draw from.

After Wednesday's loss, A's manager Mark Kotsay was asked about Murdock.

"He's shown signs that he can have success here and he can be effective. We'll go into that, and look at where the success is happening, and where it's not. The at-bat with Taveras, the two strike sinker is supposed to be down-and-away and it's elevated. That's a pitch that Taveras can put a barrel on. A lot to look at going into the off-day for sure."

It didn't sound as though Murdock will have many more opportunities to earn a spot on this roster. In the coming weeks, the A's will have Michel Otañez coming back from injury, as well as Michael Kelly becoming an option for them yet again as he returns from his one-year suspension in early June. Murdock's place on the A's roster could be determined by those two player's timelines for return.

The A's could also cut ties sooner if they feel they've gotten enough of a look at Murdock, and call up 34-year-old veteran Dylan Floro, who has over 400 innings of big-league experience as a stopgap. He has yet to allow a run in Triple-A cross 3.2 innings of work.

If the A's were to cut ties with Murdock, he would be the second relief pitcher from the Royals that didn't work out with the club. Last year the team acquired Will Klein from Kansas City in the Lucas Erceg deal, and he has since been traded to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations.