WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Athletics underwent a bit of a roster shake-up on Sunday.
Before their series finale against the Angels at Sutter Health Park, the A’s called up first baseman/outfielder Joey Meneses and left-handed pitcher Matt Krook from Triple-A Las Vegas, while optioning shortstop Alika Williams to Triple-A. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Scott Barlow was designated for assignment and Luis Severino was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
There’s a lot to unpack here. We’ll start with Barlow. The A’s targeted him this offseason in free agency, bringing the veteran reliever in on a one-year deal in hopes that he would figure into their late-inning formula. Through 36 appearances, however, Barlow was inconsistent with a 6.48 ERA. The struggles increased this month, as he’d allowed 15 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings over his last eight games.
The home/road splits were a bit jarring for Barlow. He owned a 1.02 ERA in 17 appearances on the road as opposed to a 12.64 ERA in 19 games at home, including four appearances at Las Vegas Ballpark that counted as home games for the A’s. Given his track record and success on the road, there is a strong chance the nine-year Major League veteran will get picked up by another big league club.
Krook, meanwhile, brings a 3.72 ERA in 25 appearances for Las Vegas and will now give the A’s three left-handers in their bullpen, joining José Suarez and Hogan Harris. Krook fired a scoreless inning of relief in Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Angels.
Meneses signed a Minor League deal with the A’s this offseason and earned his way up by crushing Pacific Coast League pitching, batting .348 with a .944 OPS, 11 home runs, 20 doubles and 76 RBIs in 69 games for Triple-A Las Vegas. He’s had a fair amount of success in the big leagues as a career .274 hitter with 29 homers, 61 doubles and 165 RBIs in parts of three seasons with the Nationals from 2022-24.
With first base occupied by Nick Kurtz and the A’s outfield already crowded, Meneses is likely to see most of his time as the designated hitter, as he did in Sunday’s starting lineup, making an immediate impact with an RBI single on the first pitch he saw from Angels starter Reid Detmers. His arrival is less an indictment on Williams, who hit .289 with five doubles and a homer in 23 games for the A’s after he was acquired from the Pirates on May 16, and perhaps more of an indication that Brent Rooker, who has been on the 10-day IL since June 9 and remains very limited in terms of baseball activity, could be out a bit longer than the club originally hoped.
Should Rooker’s injury linger, Meneses fits a similar profile to replace him as a slugging right-handed hitter and should get plenty of at-bats with the A’s set to face a good number of left-handed starters over the next two weeks.
“Joey’s earned this opportunity,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “He had a heck of a first half in Vegas as probably the best performer on that club. We’ve got a stretch where we might see six lefties in nine games. For Joey, that’s a good run of playing time, and it gives us a chance to get Kurtz off his feet and use Kurtz in that DH spot as well.”