Luis Severino Officially Named Starter in St. Louis

Severino has been out of action since August 9 with a left oblique strain, and holds a 4.82 ERA across 24 starts in his first season with the Athletics. A big storyline this year has been his home and road splits, with the veteran right-hander holding a 6.34 ERA at Sutter Health Park, while being a solid starter away from home with a 3.17 ERA.

That said, Severino had been on a roll in his five starts since July 11, going 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA (regardless of venue) with a 2.61 FIP thanks to an increased focus on his fastball coming out of the All Star break.

The expectation isn't for him to be able to go 100 pitches in his first start, following his sim game in which he tossed 50 pitches. That will likely set him up for somewhere between 65-70 in St. Louis on Tuesday night.

With rosters set to expand on Monday as we reach September, Severino will be one of the two players that gets added to the roster. The Athletics have yet to announce who the position player added to the roster ends up being, but there there are a couple of options.

The first is the lone position player on the 40-man, Max Schuemann, who was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on August 22. He's been a big part of the A's roster since he debuted last season, and the coaching staff loves him. This season he's hit just .200 with a .303 OBP in 160 at-bats while roaming all around the diamond and being one of the team's best defenders anywhere he's placed.

In five minor-league games, Schuemann is 8-for-20 (.400) with a .520 OBP, a home run, six RBI, and as many walks (4) as strikeouts.

The other option would be to add someone to the 40-man roster by either designating a player for assignment, or moving an injured player to the 60-day IL. Catcher Daniel Susac will be Rule 5 eligible this offseason, and will need to be added to the 40-man in the coming weeks anyway.

The former first-round selection, now 24, is batting .271 with a .349 OBP and a 95 wRC+ (100 is league average) across 90 games with Las Vegas this season. He's also hit a career-high 17 home runs.

Another likely non-40-man option would be outfielder Junior Perez, who will also need to be protected in the Rule 5 Draft, and is batting .321 with a .455 OBP in 23 games. He's also hit 10 home runs and swiped eight bags in his brief time in Triple-A.

While he may not be ready for the big leagues just yet, he's excelled with the challenge of playing with the Aviators, and giving him a taste of the big leagues could propel him into a productive offseason. He would also be another option for the A's to use in center with Denzel Clarke on the IL.