The Athletics announced a bunch of roster moves on Tuesday afternoon in the lead up to their series with the Cardinals kicking off:
That’s a lot of moves for one day. The biggest news is the promotion of Henry Bolte. One of the organization’s very top prospects, the former 2nd-round pick has absolutely demolished Triple-A pitching this season and will be rewarded with his first call up to the major leagues. With Denzel Clarke on the IL and Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler struggling, there is a clear and open path for Bolte to make an impression and make it so he never has to return to the minor leagues.
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The other big news is the Wilson injury. After injuring his shoulder this weekend we saw the runner-up in last year’s AL ROTY voting in a sling so this placement isn’t exactly a surprise. It does sound as though it’s not a worst-case scenario for him as it’s to his non-throwing shoulder but the team will surely be cautious with their young infielder. There’s no set timetable for his return but it’s going to be at least a month before we see him suit up again. In the mean time expect to see plenty of Darell Hernaiz at shortstop for the Athletics.
The team is also bringing up infielder Michael Stefanic to help bolster the team’s depth on the dirt. The 30-year-old has spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues with the Angels and Blue Jays. He joined the A’s on a minor league deal this offseason and he’s slashed .250/351/.355 with a pair of long balls and a trio of steals for the Aviators. He has some experience at shortstop but hasn’t played there this season, getting most of his playing time at second and third base. He’s a depth piece for Mark Kotsay at this point but the A’s need bodies with Max Muncy and Jacob Wilson out of action.
The A’s weren’t done there. To make room for Stefanic on the roster the team demoted third baseman Brett Harris. The shine has worn off Harris as he’s struggled in his limited opportunities in the big leagues. He only got four at bats this year for the A’s and didn’t record a hit in those chances. For now he’ll return to Las Vegas and continue to try working on his game and force the team to give him another chance later this year.
And finally wrapping up the roster moves today, the team needed to create 40-man roster space and reliever Eduarniel Nuñez was the casualty. The flame throwing right-hander came over in the Mason Miller trade with the Padres last year but struggled in his time with the Athletics. Those struggles have continued this year as he’s allowed 7 runs in just over 11 innings of work. The A’s made him a part of the return for Miller so it’d be disappointing to see the team move on after less than a calendar year. Hopefully the team can sneak him through waivers unclaimed and get him back into the Las Vegas bullpen, but we’ll just have to wait and see if another team is more interested.
