The A’s have shut southpaw Brady Basso down for the time being due to a shoulder strain, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. There’s currently no timetable for his return to throwing.
While Basso wasn’t guaranteed a spot on the Opening Day roster — he still has a pair of minor league option years remaining — his solid rookie showing in 2024 put him in position to genuinely compete to break camp. A 16th-round pick back in 2019, Basso pitched the first 22 1/3 innings of his MLB career last season and logged a 4.03 earned run average with a 20.4% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 42% grounder rate. That came on the heels of a 4.55 ERA, 27.5 K% and 6.3 BB% in 93 innings (18 starts, four relief appearances) between Double-A and Triple-A.
The Athletics currently have Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs and JP Sears locked into rotation spots. Last season’s Rule 5 pick, Mitch Spence, very likely pitched his way into the fourth rotation spot with a nice rookie effort. Basso was in competition with Osvaldo Bido, Joey Estes, J.T. Ginn and Hogan Harris for a remaining rotation spot. It’s also possible he could’ve cracked the bullpen as a second lefty alongside veteran T.J. McFarland.
Through the first few weeks of camp, Basso had only strengthened his case. While Ginn, Bido and Estes have been hit hard and Harris has struggled with his command, Basso has rattled off 4 1/3 scoreless — and hitless — innings. He’s only allowed one of 14 opponents to reach (a walk) and had fanned four batters. Things can change in a hurry in a small spring sample, but to this point he could scarcely have done more with the opportunities he’d been given.
The A’s will have more information on his timeline for recovery in the days and weeks ahead, but a shutdown at this point effectively takes him out of the running for the Opening Day roster. If there’s a strain of any real significance, Basso could be a 60-day IL candidate the next time the team needs a 40-man roster spot, but that’ll hinge on the forthcoming prognosis and recovery timetable.
Severino, Springs, Bido, Sears are locks and going to pitch in that order, which Gallegos has been consistent in saying for about 3 weeks.
Basso was competing with SPENCE, Estes, Ginn, Harris.
What about Ken Waldichuk haven’t heard much about him since the trade?
In recovery from TJS. Projected back around ASB.
I love what Bido has done. Excited to see him this year
There go the playoffs
Dave Dombrowski on line 1 offering Taijuan Walker, half his salary, and a lottery pick for an autographed copy of Moneyball.
Probably still too early for them to consider that, they would more likely rather have Ginn over Gibson or Turnbull with plenty of other options healthy so far. I wanted Turnbull before ST, but now it just does not look like it is going to happen, especially if Hoglund is there touching 97 mph. On the other hand, I would not mind adding Brooks Raley or David Robertson to the bullpen.
Bido has nasty stuff. He should be the #4 starter or the setup man for Miller