How Luis Medina Fits on the A's Roster
Yesterday there was chatter that Luis Medina was headed to Anaheim to start Wednesday's game for the A's. Today, the A's made the move official, calling up Medina and optioning James Kaprielian down to Triple-A.
If you're familiar with Medina, you know that he can throw 100 and has trouble with command. In his last start with Triple-A Las Vegas, Medina walked five in three innings. In that start he threw 76 pitches and was primarily fastball/curveball, while mixing in his changeup. He was also averaging 96 on the fastball.
With that in mind, this move appears to be a one-start appearance for Medina. He's a fresh arm (last pitched April 19) that can provide 80-90 pitches and probably give Mark Kotsay three to five innings. With Shintaro Fujinami moving to the bullpen, he's no longer slotted in for Saturday's start, and giving Medina this opportunity pushes the regular starters back a day and fills that gap.
Medina may not be ready to stick in the big leagues just yet, which is part of the reason I feel that this will be a one start gig for Medina. He's been walking a batter an inning since the A's acquired him in the Frankie Montas deal last season, and that won't cut it at the Major League level. He's also only made three starts in Triple-A in his career. Giving him this one start could serve as motivation.
There's also the fact that Medina and Hogan Harris are the only two pitchers that are healthy, on the 40-man roster, and not already with Oakland, so there aren't a lot of other options for the A's to consider when they need a fresh arm.
Drew Rucinski made a rehab start on Sunday, tossing five scoreless innings. He joined the A's in Anaheim on Monday and Mark Kotsay told reporters that they were going to see how his bullpen went.
If Rucinski comes out of that bullpen ok, then the expectation would likely be to have him join the A's when they return to Oakland, and he could potentially start Friday's game on regular rest. In order to get Rucinski on the roster, someone would have to be sent down, and it would make sense for that person to be Medina.
James Kaprielian started the season in the rotation, but after his seven walk outing against the Mets on April 14, the A's moved him to the bullpen and he has given up five earned in 2.2 innings in that role. Kap's velo has been down a little bit in the early going, averaging 92.5 on his fastball. He was hitting 94 last season. As a right-hander, that can make a big difference in effectiveness. The new pitch timer could have something to do with that drop in velo, so this could be an opportunity for Kaprielian to get accustomed to the timer, and perhaps even recoup some of that velocity.
With Mason Miller throwing on Tuesday and Medina on Wednesday, we'll get a glimpse at two guys with the potential to be the aces of the A's rotation in the not-too-distant future.