Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images Pauly B is back with the major club today, returning from an extended trip on the IL. He’ll hope to help the Oakland A’s secure at least a split series against the Los Angeles Angels. He’ll face off against Carson Fulmer, who was recently moved from the Angels’ bullpen to its rotation. The A’s will roll out what’s become their everyday lineup and has been one of, if not the, best in the league throughout July. Pauly B is back on the mound pic.twitter.com/xtcwmgmQrS — Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 26, 2024 And for the Angels: Angels Lineup⚾ Oakland Athlet ..read more

Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports Starting rotation getting healthier The Athletics announced on Friday afternoon that they have activated right-handed starter Paul Blackburn off of the IL for tonight’s start: We have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/wZmKB0kCwu — Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 26, 2024 Blackburn’s return comes after missing over two months with a stress reaction in his right foot. Before that he had been having a solid if unspectacular season. In eight starts the former All-Star was sporting a 4.11 ERA with his customary quality control. He won’t hit the height ..read more

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports MLB news roundup Happy Friday, Athletics Nation! A’s closer extraordinaire Mason Miller pulled a Luzardo of sorts, breaking his left pinky by pounding a padded table in a moment of frustration after Monday’s game against the Astros. It may seem like a careless mistake on Miller’s part, but Melissa Lockard correctly pointed out that this, like everything else, is actually John Fisher’s fault. John Fisher is the Babe Ruth contract sale, Billy goat, dehydrated monkey paw of baseball owners. There is no other explanation for this level of cursed. https://t.co/SPy ..read more

Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports Six-game road trip starts with a win Two of the biggest reasons for the A’s exciting start to the second half of their 2024 season have been Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker. In six games since the All-Star Break, the two have combined to go 19-44 with a few home runs and 14 RBI’s heading into today. Tonight, it was no shock that both were in the middle of the A’s successes yet again. Three big flies — one each for Rooker and Butler — led the way for the A’s who snagged the 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels to take game one of the four-game set. Ross Stripling re ..read more

D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports On the road again against a familiar friend While yesterdays series finale against the Houston Astros ended in a tough 8-1 loss, the A’s are still riding high after the All-Star Game break with back-to-back series victories and a 4-2 record. Today, they’ll hit the road for the first time in the second half as they take on the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim for a four-game set. Both squads played each other this past weekend resulting in the A’s taking 2⁄3 and scoring 26 runs at home. After the series loss, the Angels flew north to Washington where they swept the ..read more

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Oakland signed all but one of their draftees The Oakland Athletics officially announced their signing class for the 2024 MLB Draft, and as expected they landed all but one of their draftees. The A’s had a huge bonus pool to work with and got three major talents at the top of the draft, most notably fourth overall pick Nick Kurtz. Kurtz is a well-rounded first base prospect who figures to advance quickly and slot well into Oakland’s lineup, where he could be a middle-of-the-lineup for many years. We have agreed to terms with 20 of our 21 selections f ..read more

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports Broken pinkie for the All-Star closer Oakland is reportedly set to lose its All-Star closer to the IL as the team announced that Mason Miller has a broken pinkie and will head to the shelf: We have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/mRaSBJUrhB — Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 25, 2024 Wow. What a frustrating turn of events. Miller has been nearly unhittable all season in his first action as a full-time reliever. On the year he’s sporting a pristine 2.21 ERA in 34 appearances. He’s 15-for-17 in save opportunities and has struck out an insane 70 b ..read more

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images My thoughts on Clarke’s great second half, Luis Morales, and the rest of Oakland’s system It’s been a bit since I’ve checked in here as I’ve been on draft duty, but a lot has happened in the Oakland Athletics system in the past couple of weeks. Important names like Max Muncy and Darell Hernaiz are finally getting healthy and back into actions, while the promotions into Midland’s outfield have renewed excitement at Double-A. Luis Morales may have struggled in his last outing, but he has pitched well for the last couple of months and showed a lot of promis ..read more

D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports MLB news roundup Happy Thursday Athletics Nation! We got word yesterday that right-handed veteran Ross Stripling was set to be activated off the IL to make today’s start against the Los Angeles Angels: Ross Stripling will start tomorrow against the Angels, Mark Kotsay told us. It’s possible Paul Blackburn returns and is inserted back into the rotation as well during the series. — Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) July 24, 2024 That should add a boost to the starting pitching. Stripling was added over the offseason on a rare trade with the San Francisco ..read more

Advice: given how long your swing is these days, start swinging now at the next pitch. | Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images Fans tend to have knee-jerk reactions and those are not helpful. Zack Gelof proved, in 2023, how good he could be in the big leagues and earned the right to work through “sophomore slump” difficulties without looking over his shoulder to see if an 0 for 8 might get him booted off the roster. That being said, sometimes a confluence of factors meets at the same point and right now that point has come for Gelof. Only in the same way Lawrence Butler needed — and benefit ..read more