Mark Kotsay breaks down Athletics' various roster moves before series vs. Cubs
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay speaks to reporters before his team's series opener against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
Mark Kotsay breaks down Athletics' various roster moves before series vs. Cubs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Obviously some roster moves today.
Cade Morris coming up.
first off, just any kind of plan to utilize, both Cade and Mason Barnett up here now?
Yeah, both, these young guys that got called up today, I mean, obviously Mason's been with us, but, Cade's, first call-up and, and time in the big leagues, they'll be down in the bullpen.
you know, we obviously coming off, a tough weekend with the Yankees i- injury and, and a short start that, you know, we've worn the bullpen down a little bit, but they'll provide some length right now, and we'll make a decision, you know, which one of them gets that opportunity going forward to fulfill, one of the, the vacancies in our rotation right now.
Morris is a guy who you've talked about for a while now that you've, you know, been impressed with.
obviously had a, a c- pretty good outing with Triple-A, as of late.
What have you heard of him just recently?
Yeah.
I, I think he's throwing the ball well.
you know, he's a, he's a pitcher that, pitches with a lot of emotion.
you know, I'm sure when he steps on that mound for the first time, there's gonna be a lot of energy, a lot of excitement.
that being said, like you talked about, the Triple-A season has gone pretty well for him.
he has been performing at a pretty good clip.
more strikeouts, innings pitched.
you know, it's obviously a, a, a, Vegas is, can be a difficult ballpark to pitch in and get results, but I think he's done a nice job.
So, we saw him in spring training.
We were impressed with his, what, what he was able to do, and, this will be fun to, to get him out here and, and, and give him an opportunity.
Jacob Wilson obviously with you guys.
I know injury report says, later this week at some point.
Is that still being determined, the exact day, or?
Yeah, I mean, I think, exact date would be Saturday, I believe, on the, on the, email sent out, and, that's the target.
Obviously, Jacob feels good about where he's at right now.
you know, this'll be a, a couple days of, of pretty good work here, pre-game, and, if all those signs go well, you know, he should be right on, right on course for, for that timeline.
Mark, you played here per- in the past.
What are your thoughts on Wrigley, and specifically the fans, especially when you played with the White Sox?
I, I love this place.
it's, it's in the top three, definitely.
I'm a little jealous that one of my best friends gets to manage this club and, and be here every day.
But, yeah, it, it brings back a lot of good memories.
a lot of fun times.
You know, I'm a little disappointed that we don't have a day game here to get that experience, 'cause day games are great, in Wrigley.
but, overall, it's a, just a great place to play a game, and the energy's always, electric here.
And you also know it's two different ballparks.
You can see the flags right now.
They're blowing in, so.
Normally they, yeah, and it's a nice day.
I guess it's just not warm enough for it to blow out.
But, yeah, the, the two different conditions are always interesting.
like, like I said, it, it generally would be blowing the other direction on a 75-degree day.
Do you have a Severino update?
extended period of, time on the IL, really.
That's the update.
we do a medical release, so I don't speak out of, uh- Okay out of line in terms of the exact injury diagnosis.
But yeah, it's, a, a minimum four to six weeks at least and if not more.
Brad.
Oh, oh, going back to Cade Morris, you know, he's a regular starter.
how will you determine how he, he'll be used early on, since he got promoted?
Well, like I said at the, the start, like he'll be out of the bullpen, right now, the next probably day or two.
then we'll have to determine who's gonna make a start on Saturday for us.
There's a spot there in the rotation Friday and Saturday.
So, you know, it's always nice to get a young kid's first experience on the mound, an inning that's maybe a little lower in leverage, get him out there and let him feel it.
you know, and if there's an opportunity maybe tonight to do that, w- we could take advantage of it.
But, at this point right now, both, both he and, Barnett are down there to provide length.
earlier just made his debut.
Gage Jump.
for start number two, what are you just kinda looking to see from him here in this one?
I mean, at the start one, you know, the, the line wasn't per se great, five innings, four runs, but, the best thing about the line was that he had one walk and he had some swing and miss.
So, you know, we'll look for him to get back in that, in, in the zone, get some swing and miss.
you know, he's a guy that likes to strike guys out.
he's a power arm that, that, that has that a- ability, so getting some early count action, maybe some soft contact helps him get into the fifth or sixth.
you know, he did a nice job of getting into the, through the, through five innings last time.
We're at the 60-game mark.
the West is pretty bunched up.
Do you anticipate it's gonna stay that way throughout, I mean, competitive division?
Well, Seattle came in and made a statement against us.
and they're continuing to play really good baseball.
I think they've won seven in a row.
you know, Houston's playing better.
I, I do think that, that, you know, there's several teams in our division, including ourselves, that can compete in September.
you know, May's been a tough month for us, in the last five years, and, you know, we're hopeful that we can turn the page and, and have a, a better June.
