Former Los Angeles Dodgers Prospect Called Up by A's For MLB Debut

At the beginning of April, the Athletics sent outfielder Esteury Ruiz, the AL stolen base leader in 2023, to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Carlos Duran. The 23-year-old is the Athletics No. 29 prospect, and he was recently called up to the big leagues for what will be his MLB debut when he takes the mound.

To make room for Duran, the Athletics optioned left-hander Jacob Lopez to Triple-A Las Vegas, and moved veteran righty José Leclerc to the 60-day IL. Earlier this week, Athletics on SI had an opinion piece saying that it didn't look good for Leclerc returning soon, and this move seems to solidify that theory.

Lopez went just 2.2 innings in his start against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, and manager Mark Kotsay needed to use long-man Hogan Harris to help bridge the gap to the rest of the bullpen, so the team needed a fresh arm just in case.

Kotsay told reporters in Arlington before the game that Duran will be used as the long man out of the bullpen. In his five relief outings in the A's organization since the trade, he has gone at least two innings in all five. His last appearance came on April 25 where he went three scoreless innings, didn't allow a hit or a walk, and struck out two. Duran needed just 29 pitches for those three innings of work.

In his last two outings he's given up just one hit over a combined five innings of work.

"We traded a pretty darn good player for him, and we see a big upside [in Duran]."

With the A's defeating the Texas Rangers 7-1 on Wednesday, thanks to some late inning mashing from Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler, Duran wasn't needed to help secure the victory. On Thursday the A's are sending out left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who has a 7.66 ERA in the month of April, though he's been able to provide at least five innings more often than not.

If Springs gets roughed up early, as has been the case in the early going, then that could be when Duran ends up getting deployed.

Kotsay mentioned that they always try to find a fairly soft landing spot for a guy's big-league debut, but it doesn't always work out that way. We'll have to wait and see how Thursday's game unfolds, but the A's are trying to make a statement against the Rangers early this season, having already taken one three-game series, and currently up two games to one in a four-gamer.

Duran is a hard-throwing righty that averages 95-98 with his fastball, but it's his slider that has "some serious horizontal sweep" that is his biggest weapon.

In 17 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, Ruiz is batting .293 with a .406 OBP, one home run, and 13 stolen bases. With Ruiz putting up a similar stat line in his time in the minors last season in the A's organization, it will be interesting to see how he's utilized by the Dodgers this season.