Former A's Pitcher Shines with Tampa Bay Rays

Last December, the Athletics made a deal to acquire Jeffrey Springs from the Tampa Bay Rays shortly after they'd signed Luis Severino to a franchise record-setting contract. The A's also added Jacob Lopez in the deal, who has worked his way into the rotation this season and has been a strikeout machine with some upside.

While the A's pitching staff certainly improved with the move, they had to give up one of their most intriguing pitching prospects to make it happen. Joe Boyle was the big piece of that trade headed back to Tampa, and after winning Pitcher of the Month honors in the International League for June, he was called up to the Rays 26-man roster on Sunday and immediately thrust into action.

Drew Rasmussen got the start for Tampa, giving up a leadoff homer to Byron Buxton in the first, but he'd end up going the first two frames with just the one run allowed. Boyle took over in the third and dominated in his return to the big leagues.

The 6-foot-8 righty largely mowed down the competition across five innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits and a walk while striking out seven. The run that scored came on a ground ball to second that kicked off José Caballero and towards the bag, allowing the runner from second base to come around and score on a close play at the plate. The Rays challenged the ruling on the field, but it was upheld.

In his time with the Athletics, Boyle was certainly capable of these types of games, but his command was a work in progress. In 47 2/3 innings with the A's last season, he walked 17.7% of the batters he faced, and in a similar workload in Triple-A that rate sat at 19.8%. While his "stuff" is undeniable, he just wasn't keeping it in the zone enough to be effective.

With the Rays this season he has improved his control dramatically, walking just 10.6% of batters in Triple-A, and 8.1% of hitters in his ten innings of work in the big leagues. With his pitch location looking improved, the next area that Tampa will likely have him work on is his efficiency. While he tossed five solid frames on Sunday, he also used 95 pitches in the process.

That said, a team like the Rays is more likely to go with a "five and dive" pitcher and be fairly happy, so this may not be a major point of emphasis for them immediately.

As for the A's portion of this deal, Springs has been good for the A's, holding a 4.07 ERA (4.77 FIP) in nearly 100 innings, and that ERA is closer to 3.50 since the start of May. Lopez, who had been an up-and-down guy with Tampa, has found a home in the A's rotation, posting a 4.26 ERA (4.21 FIP) while striking out 28.3% of the batters he faces.

While he doesn't have enough innings to qualify among the MLB leaders, that strikeout rate is in line Carlos Rodón of the New York Yankees, who ranks No. 10 in starting pitcher strikeout rate this season. All of the pitchers in that range are Cy Young contenders this season, so the ceiling may be quite high for Lopez.