After the Oakland A's optioned first baseman Ryan Noda to Triple-A following Wednesday's game, there was a mystery that was left to be solved: Who would be taking his place on the team's 26-man roster?
The obvious answer would be a rehabbing J.D. Davis, and the A's announced that he has been activated from the IL after missing time with a right adductor strain. What we didn't see coming was that the team's No. 9 prospect, Brett Harris, would be flying back to Oakland with him.
The 25-year-old, like Davis, is a third baseman that swings it from the right side. This season with Las Vegas he has hit .289 with a .418 OBP, and he's walking at a 16.4% clip with a 23.6% strikeout rate.
To make room for him on Oakland's 26-man roster, the A's optioned shortstop Nick Allen, which more or less frees up the position for Darell Hernaiz, who had started four of the last six games at the position anyway, with Allen receiving his two starts against left-handers. To make room for Harris on the 40-man roster, Freddy Tarnok was moved to the 60-day IL.
Last weekend when the Aviators were in Sacramento, I asked Stephen Piscotty which players on the roster aren't talked about enough, and the first guy he mentioned was Harris. "Harris has definitely impressed. He's playing dang near every day and going about it. Making plays, staying engaged. He's looking really good."
So how do Davis and Harris both fit on the roster?
It would appear as though the A's will use Davis and his .308 average against lefties when facing a southpaw. It's a very small sample size (13 at-bats), but his wRC+ sits at 239 against left-handers while it was 31 against righties. They could also just roll with him everyday like they had been and bank on a turnaround.
Harris has hit better against lefties in the minors, but his splits are nowhere near as drastic. He's hit .279 with a .417 on-base and his OPS is actually a little higher against right-handers at .888 to .832.
In the first game with the reconfigured roster, Tyler Nevin is playing in right field, batting second, Davis is batting fifth and playing first base, and Harris is batting ninth while manning the hot corner. Lawrence Butler is getting the night off, which doesn't figure to happen much, but on Friday night that opened up a spot for Nevin in the outfield.
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