Ken Waldichuk's Spring Struggles Continue
Coming into camp, Ken Waldichuk was penciled in as a member of the Oakland A's Opening Day rotation. After three spring starts, he may find himself starting the season with the team's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.
On Saturday, he got the ball against a Cleveland lineup that was primarily filled with Major League regulars, and the 25-year-old left-hander had a rough first two innings. After a leadoff double in the bottom of the first, Waldichuk allowed a two-run homer to José Ramírez. Then in the second the southpaw allowed a one-out walk, which was immediately followed by another two-run homer, this time at the hands of Mike Zunino.
Two batters later he was drilled with a line drive up the middle off the bat of Myles Straw, which deflected to third baseman Jonah Bride. Waldichuk stayed in the game and worked a three up, three down third. He struck out the leadoff batter in the top of the fourth, before walking Zunino and being lifted for Domingo Acevedo.
His final line: 3.1 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, K.
Spring stats don't mean everything, but when there is a competition for a roster spot, they do hold some weight. Through three starts, Waldichuk has totaled six innings, given up nine runs on nine hits and seven walks, while striking out just four, leading to a 13.50 ERA.
Other than the results, Waldichuk just hasn't been getting deep into games, with his pitch count seeing him exit all three starts early. His first start he went one inning, followed by 1.2 in his next outing. If Waldichuk were to max out on his pitch count in the fourth or fifth inning regularly during the season, that could have a negative impact on the bullpen, and the team, for a couple of days. Seven walks in six innings will drive up a pitch count quickly.
When camp began, there were arguably five pitchers vying for the final spot in the A's rotation, joining Paul Blackburn, James Kaprielian, Drew Rucinski, and Shintaro Fujinami. Waldichuk was one of the favorites because he's the A's #2 prospect, and because he had a good showing with the club in the rotation a year ago, going 2-2 with a 4.93 ERA and picking up wins in starts against Jacob deGrom and Shohei Ohtani.
With the spring that he's had so far, he may be on the outside looking in at the moment.
It also doesn't help Waldichuk's case that some of his competitors are performing well. Adam Oller, who went 2-8 with a 6.30 ERA last season, made some adjustments in the off-season, and has been dominant this spring, posting a 1.86 ERA across 9.2 innings pitched while racking up 14 strikeouts. In his most recent start, he held the Los Angeles Dodgers scoreless over four frames, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out seven.
It should also be noted that most of that Dodger lineup was not filled with big league regulars.
The other standout has to be Kyle Muller, who was the other favorite along with Waldichuk to land a spot in the Opening Day rotation. The A's sounded high on him when he was acquired in the Sean Murphy deal, and he may just be a guy that needs some consistent starts in The Show to figure it out. He's had a few sporadic outings over the past two seasons with Atlanta, racking up 49 total innings and a 5.14 ERA.
Muller has two official starts for the A's this spring, and has given up three runs in 4.2 innings. He also made a start against Team Colombia on Wednesday, and went 3.2 innings, gave up five hits and two runs, a walk, and struck out three.
There's a chance that the A's could go with Muller to give them one left-hander in their rotation, but as of right now, Oller seems to be the guy that is earning his spot on the roster this spring. There's still two weeks of games to go, which means that each player under consideration will have at least two more appearances before camp ends to either change some minds, or help solidify a decision.
If everyone stays on regular rest, Waldichuk could be in line to start one of the two games against the San Francisco Giants when the teams return to the Bay Area before the season starts.
Ken Waldichuk may not be completely out of the running just yet, but he could be in third place out of three with just two to make his case.