A's Making Slight Tweaks with Former Atlanta Braves First Rounder
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Last week the Athletics claimed left-handed relief pitcher Jared Shuster off waivers from the Chicago White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 27-year-old was originally selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round (25th overall) in the 2020 MLB Draft.
After struggling to a 5.27 ERA across 141 2/3 big-league innings, which includes an 8.04 ERA in 15 2/3 innings this season, Shuster is still looking to figure out the next level. On Friday night with Las Vegas, he tried something a little different with the A's affiliate.
On the season with the White Sox, Shuster was throwing his changeup the most he has in his MLB career, sitting at nearly 37% usage. The off-speed offering was followed by his four-seamer (32%), slider (26%) and sinker (4.3%).
Last night, he continued to rely on the changeup (30%), but also threw just as many sliders. These were two pitches that he's used a decent amount already, so nothing crazy going on yet. But his third most-used pitch was his sinker in this game, which he threw 26% of the time, while his four-seamer, which has been one of his most-used offerings over the years, sat at just 13%.
Now, this could just be that this was his second time facing the same opponent in the span of days, and his first outing didn't go so well, so he was looking to switch things up. He went 2/3 of an inning, giving up a hit, three walks, and four earned runs while striking out a batter against Albuquerque on Tuesday. Last night he went 1 1/3 and allowed three hits, but didn't give up a walk or any runs. He also didn't strike anyone out.
Given the extremely small sample size and the fact that this was the same team he'd faced earlier this week, it's tough to tell if this is a new strategy that is being worked on for the long-term, or if this was a one-off deal. How he mixes his offerings in his next outing should give us a more firm idea on the answer to that question.
With rosters set to expand to 28 players at the beginning of September, it would stand to reason that Shuster is going to be on the short list of names that the A's are choosing between calling up for the final month. The other pitchers currently on the A's 40-man in Las Vegas are Mitch Spence, Brady Basso, Ken Waldichuk, Anthony Maldonado and Michel Otañez.
The reason that him getting the call would make sense would be that the A's could give him a bit of an audition for next season. If he does well, then he sticks on the 40-man for the offseason as a left-handed option for the club heading into camp. If he struggles, perhaps they look in another direction on the waiver wire or with a minor-league free agent this winter.
One way or another he's going to be pitching in West Sacramento this season, as the Aviators are scheduled to play the River Cats from September 2-7.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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