The Oakland A finalized their 2022 Opening Day roster on Thursday, a day before the season begins in Philadelphia.
Overall it is surprising considering the turnover within a year: only nine players from their initial 2021 roster are in the 2022 starting group, even with two additional roster spots this year.
After rumors arose in November and continued during MLB’s owner-imposed lockdown, Oakland briefly traded four star players during spring training: third baseman Matt Chapman, first baseman Matt Olsen and starting pitchers Chris Bassit and Sean Manea. . He let several players go as free agents, notably outfielder Mark Canha and starling Marte (who was acquired in a July trade for pitcher Jesus Luzardo).
Only three of the AK’s 13 pitchers remain on their initial 26-man roster in 2021: opening day starter Frankie Montas, left-handed starter Cole Irvine and close Lou Trivino.
This position is only slightly better on the player side, as six players remain a year later: infielders Elvis Andrus, Jade Lowry, Chad Pinder and Tony Kemp, outfielder Stephen Piscotti and catcher Sean Murphy. Ramon Loreno is still with Oakland, but he will miss the first 27 games of 2022 as he completes an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension.
This leaves the roster to start 2022 with plenty of new faces for A’s fans to learn, though the team brought back veterans Lowry and Stefan Vogt for more time in the green and gold.
The roster expanded to 28 for the month of April as teams work to build their starting pitchers, with the A choosing to bring 14 pitchers on their initial visit to Philadelphia. Roster rules affecting transactions, such as the 13-pitcher limit and the new rule limiting a player’s number of substitutes to five times, will not take effect until the roster is reduced to 26 players on May 1. would have been done.
The roster moves are likely to be made before the end of A’s first road trip. New manager Mark Cootse admitted that the A have players who are to be placed on the banned list and will have to miss a trip to Toronto next weekend due to Canada’s COVID travel restrictions.
Many A’s players will break camp on the big league rosters for the first time in their careers, to enjoy the pomp and conditions around Opening Day that players know are special.
“It’s definitely a milestone that I wanted to check off the list,” A’s starter Dolton Jeffries said in Scottsdale on Tuesday.
Expectations aren’t high for how the team will perform on the field, with Caesar’s sportsbook scoring an over/under 68.5 win over Oakland. But the A’s have been known to surprise the baseball industry in the past, and new manager Mark Coates still hopes the team will compete and try to win.
Here is a breakdown:
starting pitcher (5)
- Frankie Montas, RHP
- Cole Irwin, LHP
- Dalton Jeffries, RHP
- Paul Blackburn, RHP
- Adam Aller, RHP
Relief pitchers (9)
- Domingo Acevedo, RHP
- Justin Grimm, RHP
- Zach Jackson, RHP
- Danny Jimenez, RHP
- Jake Lemoine, RHP
- Sam Moll, LHP
- AJ Puk, LHP
- Kirby Snead, LHP
- Lou Trivino, RHP
catchers (3)
- Sean Murphy (r/r)
- Austin Allen (L/R)
- Stefan Vogt (l/r), also 1b
fielder (6)
- Elvis Andrus, SS (r/r)
- Tony Kemp, 2B/SS (L/R)
- Jade Lowry, 2B/1B (S/R)
- Sheldon News, 2B/3B/1B (R/R), of . as well
- Chad Pinder, 2b/3b (r/r), of . as well
- Kevin Smith, 3b/ss (r/r)
outfielder
- Sky Bolt (S/R)
- Seth Brown (l/l), 1b. as well
- Billy McKinney (l/l), also 1b
- Christian Pache (r/r)
- Stephen Piscotti (r/r)
the roster runs
- Devlis Guerra, RHP on injured list (60-days)
- Brent Honeywell, RHP on the injured list (60-days)
- James Caprillion, RHP on injured list (15 days)
- Ramon Loreno on the suspended list (27 games)