The Athletics have placed catcher Nick Hundley on the 10-day injured list with back spasms and selected the contract of fellow backstop Beau Taylor from Triple-A Las Vegas, per a team announcement.
Hundley, whom Oakland signed to a minor league contract in February, made its roster but got off to a miserable start prior to his IL placement. The 35-year-old hit just .200/.233/.357 (55 wRC+) in 73 plate appearances before landing on the shelf. Nevertheless, he and Josh Phegley are the only Athletics catchers who have logged playing time this season.
A fifth-round pick of the A’s in 2011, Taylor experienced a brief stint with the club in 2018 but only picked up six PA. The A’s then outrighted Taylor on Nov. 5, only to re-sign him to a minor league deal a week later. The 28-year-old slashed an excellent .297/.450/.492 (141 wRC+) with five home runs and 33 walks against 38 strikeouts in 151 PA as a member of the team’s Triple-A affiliate before it called him back up.
The Mayor of Midland returns!
The mayor of Midland ? How did he get that tag ?
Because he spent parts of like 6 seasons in midland, Texas the AA affiliate. Not sure who gave him the name but I’ve heard people refer to him as that before.
Good one!
Taylor has been the A’s best C option the last 3 years but the A’s management thinks otherwise. That OBP alone gets him to MLB. The A’s should have DFA’d Hundley and replaced him with Taylor a month ago.
Well it’s his time now!
But how is his defense and pitch framing?
> but the A’s management thinks otherwise.
The PED suspension in 2017 might have something to do with why they think otherwise. You don’t reward a player after they do something like that. He needed to earn that trust back, and he has slowly and steadily been doing that.
He’s also an average or so defender with absolutely no power to speak of. We don’t know how much of the increase in production is a result of playing in Las Vegas, the new balls or what.