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A's Take a Flier on Released Righty Andrew Bash
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- A's Take a Flier on Released Righty Andrew Bash
(Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
The A's are looking for solutions to their pitching woes, and before they begin considering sending away prospects for arms at the trade deadline, they're taking a shot on a recently released right-hander.
On June 15, the Minnesota Twins officially released Andrew Bash, and four days later he had signed with the A's and was on the Las Vegas Aviators roster. On June 20 he was pitching for his new club.
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His initial outing didn't go terribly well, as the 29-year-old gave up two earned runs on four hits across 1 1⁄3 innings. He issued zero walks and collected zero strikeouts.
His second outing came on Tuesday night in Sacramento against the River Cats, but it also happens to be the home of the Athletics . Getting a sense of how he pitches at Sutter Health Park could be informative for his profile.
So far, so good. The righty tossed a scoreless inning, with a hit batter being his only blemish. He also struck out a pair of batters and was getting some whiffs on his sweeper. Sacramento batters swung four times and whiffed in three of those chances.
Bash mostly utilized his sweeper and his four-seamer on Tuesday, with the heater averaging 92.7 miles per hour and the sweeper sitting at 84.3 mph.
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In his debut outing with the Aviators, he was using his slider 58% of the time according to Baseball Savant, and only got one whiff in eight tries on that one. That was also the only whiff he had across those four outs.
Reverse Splits
While he's a right-hander, Bash has heavy reverse splits this season. Left-handers are batting .253 and he holds a 1.54 WHIP against them, compared to a .380 average with a 2.47 WHIP against righties.
With Hogan Harris , Jose Suarez, and Matt Krook being the left-handers in the A's bullpen right now, and Mark Leiter Jr. also possessing reverse splits, there may not be a need for this skill just yet — especially at the current levels — but with some work and an opening, he could be of use to the club as a different look against left-handed bats.
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It's also worth noting that his splits haven't always looked this way.
Last season with the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, left-handers hit .248 against him with a 1.33 WHIP, while righties were held in check with a .209 BAA and a 1.28 WHIP.
This will be something to keep an eye on as he continues to accumulate innings for the Aviators, because it could be his most direct route to a spot on the A's roster.
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