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A's Recall Luis Morales as Bullpen Depth Move Ahead of Aaron Civale's Return
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- A's Recall Luis Morales as Bullpen Depth Move Ahead of Aaron Civale's Return
(Dennis Lee-Imagn Images)
The A's made a predictable roster move — optioning left-hander Brady Basso back to Triple-A Las Vegas — while they replaced him in an unpredictable way. Taking that spot on the roster will be right-hander Luis Morales , who was a member of the A's starting rotation when the season began.
The A's are looking for fresh arms, and after Joey Estes 's start on Saturday, the club recalled Basso for Sunday's finale in Las Vegas, where he tossed 41 pitches (31 strikes). He's unlikely to be available to pitch for at least the next couple of days.
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While the green and gold had an off-day on Thursday in Las Vegas, they ran through a number of arms in that series at elevation. Following Sunday's 23-9 loss to the Colorado Rockies , the A's won't have another day off until June 22. Adding one innings-eater to the mix is key for the club right now as they continue to try to keep the bullpen fresh.
Morales last pitched on June 11, and he'll serve as the latest fresh arm that can go multiple innings. Since his demotion back in April, the 23-year-old righty has transitioned into a bullpen role with the Aviators, holding an 8.69 ERA in 11 relief outings.
In his past five outings, spanning 12 innings, he has put up a 3.00 ERA, giving up 14 hits and five walks. He's also struck out 20 batters, all of which is a step in the right direction.
The big test for him in this stint will be whether he can limit the traffic on the basepaths against big-league competition.
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In his two starts with the club to begin the season against the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros , Morales combined to pitch 7 1/3 innings, giving up 13 hits, 10 earned runs, walked eight and struck out five. He was a combination of ineffective and inefficient, making the bullpen eat more innings. Both his stuff and his command were much worse than in his debut run with the club last season.
During the spring and into the regular season, Morales was struggling with getting his velocity back up to where it had been in 2025. In his most recent outing, his four-seamer was sitting at 96.9 mph, an increase of 0.6 mph over last year and 0.9 mph from where it was in April.
It's also worth noting that last season, when he debuted, he was focusing on his four-seamer and sweeper combo, but this season he got away from that a bit (perhaps because of the velo drop) and his sweeper was one of his least-used pitches in his three outings with the A's.
In his most recent relief appearance, it was that sweeper that led the way with a 36% usage rate and an additional 2.3 ticks of velocity, now sitting at 83.5 mph.
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With Aaron Civale likely to make his return to the A's rotation on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates , Morales figures to get a look in the next couple of days — with a trip back to Triple-A to follow once Civale is activated
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