A’s place reliever J.B. Wendelken on injured list, recall Jordan Weems

The A’s placed J.B. Wendelken on the injured list with a strained left oblique today, per the team. They recalled Jordan Weems to take his spot in the bullpen.

Wendelken has been a major player out of the A’s bullpen so far this season, appearing in 15 games and tossing 12 1/3 innings with a 4.38 ERA/3.09 FIP, 43.6 percent groundball rate, 24.1 percent strikeout rate, and 8.6 percent walk rate. 

A too-high .368 BABIP has negatively affected Wendelken’s bottom line so far this season. His fastball velocity has been down to 93.3 mph, and he’s gotten very few hitters to chase (nine percent chase rate). Still, he’s avoided barrels (only one allowed this season) and largely done a nice job of limiting hard contact.

Weems was signed as a minor league free agent after beginning his career as a third round pick of the Red Sox back in 2011. He brings a three-pitch mix to the bullpen, pairing a 94-to-95 mph heater with a slider versus right-handers and a change-up versus lefties. He’s back on the active roster after a little more than a week at the alternate site. He has three appearances on the year totaling 2 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.