Former Tampa Bay Rays Reliever Yet To Allow A Run All Year

Back in November, the A's made a pair of waiver claims to fill gaps in their 40-man roster. The team elected to claim right-handers Anthony Maldonado from the Miami Marlins, and Justin Sterner from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Maldonado didn't make it far into camp before being sent down to Triple-A Las Vegas, but Sterner stuck around on the big-league roster to the end of spring.

Justin Sterner had an edge on non-roster invitees to make an Opening Day Roster spot because he was on the club's 40-man roster. However, Sterner proved why he should have an important role in the bullpen in A's camp.

In 12 innings pitched in Spring Training, Sterner didn't allow any earned runs, good for a 0.00 ERA with a .125 batting average against. His nasty arsenal of pitches worked well in camp, which led the A's to have Sterner make the Opening Day roster.

Last year in the big leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays, Justin Sterner posted a 2.25 ERA in just four innings, which included his MLB debut, but flashed his good off-speed stuff, which likely impressed the A's into claiming him in the following off-season.

In terms of stuff, Sterner's is right up there with Mason Miller's. What separates the two is the A's closer's ability to control the baseball a bit better. In terms of nastiness, they're about even, however.

Now the right-hander has pitched in eight games for the Athletics this season and in the 8.1 innings he's pitched, he hasn't allowed any runs at all, and has only given up 3 hits.

The 28-year-old is now pitched over 20 innings in an A's uniform without allowing an earned run, which has led to manager Mark Kotsay turning to Sterner more often as a reliable arm coming out of an A's bullpen that has some under-the-radar arms, like Sterner.