Yesterday there was chatter that Luis Medina was headed to Anaheim to start Wednesday's game for the A's. Today, Martín Gallegos of MLB.com is reporting that he's hearing the same thing.
If you're familiar with Medina, you know that he can throw 100 and has trouble with command. In his last start with Triple-A Las Vegas, Medina walked five in three innings. In that start he threw 76 pitches and was primarily fastball/curveball, while mixing in his changeup. He was also averaging 96 on the fastball.
With that in mind, this move appears to be a one-start appearance for Medina. He's a fresh arm (last pitched April 19) that can provide 80-90 pitches and probably give Mark Kotsay three to five innings. With Shintaro Fujinami moving to the bullpen, he's no longer slotted in for Saturday's start, and giving Medina this opportunity pushes the regular starters back a day and fills that gap.
Medina may not be ready to stick in the big leagues just yet, which is part of the reason I feel that this will be a one start gig for Medina. He's been walking a batter an inning since the A's acquired him in the Frankie Montas deal last season, and that won't cut it at the Major League level. He's also only made three starts in Triple-A in his career. Giving him this one start could serve as motivation.
There's also the fact that Medina and Hogan Harris are the only two pitchers that are healthy, on the 40-man roster, and not already with Oakland, so there aren't a lot of other options for the A's to consider when they need a fresh arm.
Drew Rucinski made a rehab start on Sunday, tossing five scoreless innings. He joined the A's in Anaheim on Monday and Mark Kotsay told reporters that they were going to see how his bullpen went.
If Rucinski comes out of that bullpen ok, then the expectation would likely be to have him join the A's when they return to Oakland, and he could potentially start Friday's game on regular rest. In order to get Rucinski on the roster, someone would have to be sent down, and it would make sense for that person to be Medina.
The move hasn't officially been announced by the A's, so we don't know what their corresponding move will be to get Medina onto the roster initially. Every pitcher outside of Jeurys Familia has at least one option remaining.
With Mason Miller throwing on Tuesday and Medina on Wednesday, we'll get a glimpse at two guys with the potential to be the aces of the A's rotation in the not-too-distant future.
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