A’s Place Dany Jimenez On 60-Day Injured List, Select Austin Pruitt

Dany Jimenez’s season is over due to a right shoulder strain, as the Athletics have placed the right-hander on the 60-day injured list.  Austin Pruitt’s contract was selected from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

In an overall rough season for the A’s, Jimenez has been a bright spot, posting a 3.41 ERA over 34 1/3 innings and earning a team-high 11 saves.  A .231 BABIP helped Jimenez overcome some dicey advanced metrics like a 12.4% walk rate, but Jimenez’s ERA was also somewhat inflated by a three particularly poor outings out of 34 total appearances.  (In those three bad games, Jimenez allowed 10 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, and only six runs over his other 32 2/3 frames of work during the season.)  With Lou Trivino struggling in the closer’s role, Jimenez ended up taking over the bulk of save chances.

Unfortunately, Jimenez’s bothersome right shoulder has now ended this solid rookie season.  It is the second time Jimenez has been sent to the IL with a shoulder strain, as a similar injury put him on the shelf for over six weeks, from mid-June to the start of August.

This was Jimenez’s first extended stint in the majors, as his only previous MLB experience was 1 1/3 innings with the Giants in 2020.  Jimenez is a two-time Rule 5 Draft selection, but in both cases was returned to the Blue Jays when neither the Giants (in 2020) or the A’s (in 2021) kept him on their active roster for the entire season.  Jimenez elected free agency this past winter and rejoined Oakland on a minor league deal.

Pruitt will make a quick return to the active roster after being designated for assignment and then outrighted off the 40-man earlier this week.  The right-hander has a 4.78 ERA over 37 2/3 innings out of Oakland’s bullpen, as Pruitt’s excellent control hasn’t overcome his below-average 17.2% strikeout rate.