It’s September 1st so you know what that means. Expanded rosters! The Athletics announced a couple of roster moves on Monday morning before beginning their series in St. Louis, activating right-handed starter Luis Severino off the IL while also selecting the contract of right-handed relief pitcher Scott McGough and recalling infielder Max Schuemann:
To make room on the active and 40-man rosters the club had to option fellow reliever Eduarniel Nunez back to Triple-A while also transferring rookie relief pitcher Ben Bowden to the season-ending 60-day IL.
Severino returns after missing three turns through the starting rotation. The oblique issue that caused him to go on the IL in the first place ends up being not as serious as it could have been and now the A’s get some veteran reinforcements for the final month of the season. They certainly need it with all the rookies the club has on the pitching staff at the moment. Overall on the year the veteran righty has a 4.82 ERA in his first season donning the Green & Gold. He’s set to start tomorrow’s game against the Cardinals.
McGough joins the A’s for the very first time after signing a minor league deal with the club back in June. After spending the past three years with the Diamondbacks organization McGough was released in June and has since spent the past couple of months pitching for the Aviators, tossing 24 innings and allowing nine earned runs. He doesn’t offer much punchout potential but he’s also not going to hurt himself with walks and he gets ground balls. Sounds like a good fit for the relief unit at this moment.
Shuemann returns to the club after spending roughly a week in the minors. After breaking camp with the club and spending all season on the active roster it was a bit of a surprise to see him optioned with just a few weeks left in the season to go but the A’s needed the bench spot. For what it’s worth the 28-year-old has collected a hit in each of the five games he played for the Aviators, going 8-for-20 with a home run. He’ll now presumably reoccupy his spot as the Swiss-army knife on the bench.
Nunez meanwhile will return to Triple-A yet again. Since coming over from the Padres in the Miller/Sears trade Nunez has gotten hit hard, allowing eight earned runs in eight innings of work for the big league team. The hard-throwing right-hander has plenty of promise and could end up being a fixture in the big league ‘pen as soon as next year but evidently he’s not quite ready yet. He’ll now return to the Aviators and try to finish his season on a high note, and perhaps even get one more recall back to the big leagues sometime during September.
Bowden’s season comes to a close thanks to a lat strain he suffered last week. The left-hander’s first taste of the majors since 2021 went decently enough but he allowed five runs in 10 innings of work and at 30 years of age doesn’t offer much upside other than left-handed relief depth. He’ll need to be activated and put back on the 40-man roster when the season comes to a close, but the more likely scenario is that he’s designated for assignment. He could return to the club this offseason but that’s something to discuss and think about once the season wraps up.
