A’s announce 23 non-roster invitees
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics have invited 23 non-roster players to Spring Training, the club announced today. The list includes 12 internal players and 11 minor league free agents..
Left-handed pitcher Aaron Brown and right-handed pitchers Parker Dunshee, Brian Howard, Zach Jackson, Colin Peluse and Trey Supak are the six internal pitchers invited to camp. Brown combined for a 3-4 record, a career-high 12 saves and a career-low 3.14 ERA in a career-high 51 relief appearances with Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas last year. Dunshee went 1-5 with a 6.65 ERA in 10 games, including nine starts, with Las Vegas in a season interrupted by a 12-week stint on the injured list with right thoracic outlet syndrome. Howard spent the entire season at Las Vegas and was 7-4 with a 5.86 ERA and .284 opponents batting average in 24 games, including 21 starts. Jackson combined for a 2-2 record, a career-high tying six saves and a 2.57 ERA in 25 relief appearances with Midland and Las Vegas before a right hip labral tear ended his season in mid-July. Peluse was named the A’s Organizational Pitcher of the Year after combining for a 9-3 record and a 3.39 ERA in 21 games, including 18 starts, with High-A Lansing and Midland. Supak was a non-roster invitee last year but did not pitch after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery.
Additional internal invitees include catchers Kyle McCann and Tyler Soderstrom, infielders Logan Davidson and Zack Gelof and outfielders Mickey McDonald and Buddy Reed. Davidson spent his first full professional season at Midland last year and hit .212 with seven home runs and 48 RBI in 119 games. He added 62 walks for a .307 on-base percentage. Gelof, who was the A’s 2nd round draft pick in 2021, played for three different teams and hit a combined .333 with seven home runs and 30 RBI in 36 games with the ACL A’s, Low-A Stockton and Las Vegas. McCann made his Double-A debut and batted .166 with eight home runs and 39 RBI in 93 games with Midland. He also walked 47 times for a .283 on-base percentage. McDonald split his season between Midland and Las Vegas and hit a combined .305 with two home runs, 38 RBI and a .402 on-base percentage in 106 games. Reed batted .247 with a home run and 13 RBI in 43 games with Las Vegas in a season shortened by an eight-week stint on the injured list with a sprained right thumb. Soderstrom made his professional debut with Low-A Stockton and hit .306 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI in 57 games in a season cut short by a muscle strain in his back.
The list of minor league free agent pitchers includes right-handed pitchers Ryan Castellani, Justin Grimm, Dany Jiménez, Jake Lemoine and Chester Pimentel. Castellani made one start with Colorado last year and had a no decision in an 8-6 win in the second game of a May 4 doubleheader against San Francisco (3.1 ip, 5 h, 2 r, 2 er, 4 bb, 2 so). He spent the balance of the season with Triple-A Albuquerque and went 3-11 with a 6.25 ERA and .256 opponents batting average in 24 games, including 23 starts. Grimm has pitched parts of eight seasons in the majors with Texas, Chicago (NL), Kansas City, Seattle and Milwaukee and is 20-23 with four saves and a 5.14 ERA in 310 career appearances, including 19 starts. He spent the entire 2021 season at Triple-A Tacoma in the Seattle organization where he was 3-1 with a career-high five saves and a 4.37 ERA in 45 games, including one start. Jiménez was with the A’s last spring as a Rule 5 selection but was returned to Toronto before the end of the spring. He spent the entire regular season with Triple-A Buffalo and was 3-3 with three saves and a 2.22 ERA in 39 games, including one start. Lemoine pitched for Triple-A Round Rock in the Rangers system and was 7-4 with three saves, a 2.86 ERA and .203 opponents batting average in 45 appearances, including one start. Pimentel made both his Double-A and Triple-A debuts in the Arizona organization last year and combined for a 2-0 record, one save and a 4.38 ERA in 40 games with Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno.
Also added as minor league free agents are catcher Christian Bethancourt and infielders Dermis Garcia, Drew Jackson, Dalton Kelly, Christian Lopes and Eric Thames. Bethancourt spent the entire 2021 season at Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates farm system and batted .281 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI in 92 games. Garcia made his Double-A debut in 2021 and hit .210 with 31 home runs and 67 RBI in 109 games with Somerset in the Yankees organization. His home runs were a career high, the most in the Yankees farm system, the most in the Double-A Northeast and tied for seventh among all minor leaguers. Jackson batted .251 with nine home runs and 37 RBI in 85 games with Triple-A Syracuse in the Mets system and added 53 walks for a .397 on-base percentage. Kelly played for Triple-A Durham in the Tampa Bay organization and hit .244 with 27 home runs and 74 RBI in 110 games. He added 60 walks for a .350 on-base percentage and led the Rays farm system in home runs. Lopes batted .271 with nine home runs and 34 RBI in 66 games with Triple-A Reno in the Arizona farm system. He added 29 walks and was hit by a pitch 12 times for a career-high .384 on-base percentage. Thames played for Yomiuri in Japan last year but appeared in just one game after tearing his achilles tendon. He is a .241 hitter with 96 home runs and 235 RBI in 605 games in the majors with Toronto (2011-12), Seattle (2012), Milwaukee (2017-19) and Washington (2020), and also batted .349 with 124 home runs and 382 RBI in 390 games in three seasons with the NC Dinos in Korea from 2014-16.
A complete Spring Training roster is attached.
– athletics.com –
Contact: Mark Ling, 510-746-4418
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