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A's Option Tur Amid Pitch-Tipping Concerns, Bullpen Crunch Looms
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- A's Option Tur Amid Pitch-Tipping Concerns, Bullpen Crunch Looms
(Scott Marshall-Imagn Images)
Yunior Tur's Major League debut was far from ideal. On July 17, he surrendered six earned runs on seven hits and a walk across two innings of work, striking out two. The A's lost that game 23-4.
Postgame, the conversation surrounding Tur wasn't about his debut, but a concern that he was tipping his pitches.
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"Yunior threw strikes," A's manager Mark Kotsay said after the game. "There's a lot for him to improve on. I know there were things talked about, addressed, whether he was tipping his pitches. Slow times to the plate. There's a lot of things to clean up for Yunior right now."
After throwing 47 pitches in that game, he had a few days off, ultimately getting his second turn on the mound in Wednesday's 15-5 loss. The righty lasted just ⅔ of an inning, giving up eight earned runs on five hits and three walks. He also struck out one batter.
Combined, he has surrendered three home runs in 2 ⅔ innings, helping lead to a 47.25 ERA.
After Wednesday's game, Kotsay said that changes would be coming and on Thursday, the Las Vegas Aviators' transaction log says that Tur has been optioned back to the minors in an unsurprising move.
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The A's lack experienced bullpen arms at the moment, with just Hogan Harris and José Suarez serving as the two pitchers with some history of success down there. Elvis Alvarado has had some success at times this season, but he holds a 5.59 ERA after being some fans' pick to be the closer heading into the year.
Luis Medina has the stuff to be a closer, but in pitching back-to-back games for just the second time this season, he was thrust into the 10th inning with a one-run lead, having already thrown 36 pitches across two innings the night before. He ended up walking the first two batters he faced, and allowing the Arizona Diamondbacks ' walk-off win.
In Medina's first back-to-back of the year against the Cubs in Chicago , he threw 19 pitches in one inning of work in the first game, then was brought into a game where the Cubs were already rallying in the ninth and gave up the game-tying and game-winning hits for another walk-off.
The hope for Medina is that he can become a high-leverage weapon for the A's, and these opportunities are their way of throwing him into the fire. So far, the fire has won both rounds.
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Without Justin Sterner and Mark Leiter Jr. , the rest of the bullpen is filled by Geoff Hartlieb , Brady Basso , and Hayden Juenger. With Tur being optioned, another player will be in the mix shortly. Mason Barnett is already with the club, but he could also be starting on Saturday in place of J.T. Ginn, who just landed on the IL with a blister.
None of the A's current relievers in Triple-A Las Vegas are on the 40-man roster, while Joey Estes and Kade Morris are on the IL. That leaves Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang (pitched on Thursday), Braden Nett (pitched on Wednesday) and Luis Morales as the only 40-man options for the club.
In other words, Morales would be the only one that is both available and fresh, though he hasn't been terribly effective in the minors. He began the year in the A's rotation, but after a couple of rough starts he was optioned to Vegas, where he has continued to struggle. Across 52 ⅔ innings, Morales holds a 7.18 ERA (6.37 FIP).
Morales could end up being the one that is called up because he can provide innings at the very least. Of course, the A's could also go with a non-roster option, but that includes making a corresponding 40-man roster move for a handful of innings.
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