A's Remove 10 Players From Spring Training Roster
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As is typically the case in A's camp, Sundays are the days that cuts happen from the big-league side of Spring Training, and today was no different. The A's announced that they had either optioned or reassigned a total of ten players from camp following Sunday's game.
None of the moves were necessarily surprising, as everyone is seen as depth options or prospects on their way up to the big leagues.
The Athletics optioned right-handed pitcher Eduarniel Nuñez to Triple-A Las Vegas and right-handed pitcher Henry Baez to Double-A Midland, the club announced today. The A’s also reassigned left-handed pitchers Wei-En Lin and Domingo Robles, right-handed pitchers A.J Causey, JJ Goss, Kenya Huggins and Yunior Tur; catcher Shane McGuire; and infielder Joey Meneses to their minor league camp.
The A’s now have 61 players in camp, which includes 38 players on the 40-man roster and 23 non-roster invitees. The breakdown includes 32 pitchers, five catchers, 13 infielders and 11 outfielders.
Eduarniel Nuñez sent out already?
The name that stands out the most here is Nuñez, who was acquired as part of the return for Mason Miller and JP Sears last season, and has already been optioned to Triple-A. He'd appeared in three games this spring, and after a scoreless first outing, proceeded to give up three earned across his next 1 2/3 innings, leading to a cumulative 10.13 ERA.
Nuñez's velocity has been down all spring, initially sitting down 2.7 miles per hour on his fastball and 2.1 mph on the slider, but he's picked up some of that velo, sitting at 96.1 mph in his final outing, which was down two miles per hour on the four-seamer. He closed the gap on his slider a good bit though, sitting at 87.5 mph, down 0.7 mph.
The hope is that he'll continue making gains on the minor-league side of camp until he heads out to Las Vegas for the season.
One positive from his three outings is that of the 57 pitches he threw, 36 were for strikes, which is good for a 63% strike rate. Last season in the big leagues that was down at 59%, and given that he only throws two pitches (fastball, slider), if he's only able to locate one, then he's made much more ineffective. He has the tools to be a late-inning arm for the A's, but he's not there just yet.
Other takeaways
Henry Baez, 23, was another piece of the A's trade with San Diego last summer, and after holding a 1.96 ERA across 96 2/3 innings with the Padres' Double-A affiliate, he posted a 5.84 ERA in three starts with the A's.
This spring he made one appearance, back on February 22 against Cleveland, and he worked a scoreless inning, hitting one batter and striking out two. He was sitting at 94.4 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker, and 85.3 mph with his slider. Given the A's depth at starting pitcher, Baez gets the call back to Double-A, but it wouldn't be surprising if it's a short stay.
How everyone performed this spring
Henry Baez — 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, HB, 2 K
Eduarniel Nuñez — 2.2 IP, 10.13 ERA, 2 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Wei-En Lin — 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, K
Domingo Robles — 1.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 2 hits, 2 runs (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K
A.J. Causey — 1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 4 hits, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
JJ Goss — 1.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 3 hits, ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Kenya Huggins — 1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Yunior Tur — did not pitch
Shane McGuire — 0-for-1
Joey Meneses — 2-for-5, Grand Slam, 2 runs scored, 4 RBI, BB, 2 K
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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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