Trevor Cahill is set to return from the disabled list tomorrow after missing one start, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Athletics will have him displace Kendall Graveman in the rotation, she adds in a separate column. Graveman pitched reasonably well in his one start after a demotion to Triple-A, but the A’s still would like him to continue to round back into form in Nashville following a surprisingly ugly start to the season. As Slusser notes, Oakland could’ve dropped Brett Anderson from the rotation, but doing so would mean designating the lefty for assignment.
Graveman was optioned out to make room on the roster for the return of Stephen Piscotty — who homered in his first at-bat back with the team tonight — from the bereavement list. The Athletics will need to make another roster move to accommodate Cahill’s activation tomorrow, which could mean optioning Jake Smolinski to Nashville as well, per Slusser.
Here’s more from the division…
- Angels lefty Andrew Heaney dominated the division-rival Astros last night, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes, in what the pitcher calls “probably the best game I pitched in my career.” Heaney now carries a 3.93 ERA over 34 1/3 innings through six starts. But fielding-independent pitching numbers suggest he has been even better; he’s carrying an appealing combination of 10.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. As Fletcher notes, the results have been particularly promising over the last four outings, reflecting a decision by Heaney to abandon an experiment with pitching on the third-base side of the rubber. All said, his performance to date has been enormously encouraging, though the big question remains whether he can stay healthy.
- Despite a terrible start to the season, left-hander Matt Moore will remain in the Rangers’ rotation for now, writes MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. The former Rays/Giants southpaw will lug a 7.82 ERA into Saturday’s start against the White Sox, having averaged 6.6 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 with 1.42 HR/9 and a 38.6 percent ground-ball rate. Moore has no doubt had some poor fortune, with a .388 BABIP and 62.3 percent strand rate, but even fielding-independent metrics peg him well north of 5.00. Sullivan does note that Moore’s spot, however, is in some jeopardy. Manager Jeff Banister stressed that Moore has “got to show some progress” before adding that he’s not considering a switch in the rotation just yet. Right-hander Jesse Chavez has showed well in a long relief role, though Banister suggested that the organization is happy with Chavez in his current role at present.
Everyone shuts down the Astros these days. Watching them at the plate compared to last year is painful. Throw out whatever numbers there are, but it’s not the same. Frustrating to waste these great pitching performances.
Yep, they were a flash in the pan like the Cubs.
Nah, I wouldn’t count them out. But they are certainly in a funk. Easily the worst team that’s 9 games over .500 I’ve seen in recent years… Heaney was nailing that outside corner last night. It’s a pitch you can do anything with, but still in the strike zone. Just like Severino a couple weeks ago.
They had some over performing guys last year. Marwin Gonzalez looks like his usually self. Gurriel hasn’t been the same. Derek Fisher has been terrible. I still think Bregman is due to bust out though. He may be a 2nd half player, really tore it up last year. With that rotation they don’t have many needs. Maybe another reliever and a Lf to allow marwin to play a super util role.
If it’s in the strike zone then it’s hittable
Lol three NLCSs in a row and a World Series. Cool story. Astros will be fine.
Some baseball fans like madmantx are so emotionally involved that all objectivity and rationale go out the window.
Wrong.
The A’s would drop Babe Ruth before they get rid of Smolinski
Smolks is like Putin has a golden shower tape of melvin or beane.
Lol how does Brett Anderson maintain major league employment?
I’m fully expecting the A’s to option Fowler before they option their precious Smolinski