The Oakland A's made a pretty curious roster move before their Sunday series finale against the Orioles, optioning starter Jesse Hahn back to Triple-A Nashville in favor of reliever J.B. Wendelken. The reliever promptly got rocked in his first big-league appearance, giving up four earned in 1 1/3 innings against Baltimore on Mother's Day.
Hahn, for one, seemed a bit taken aback by the decision, telling the San Jose Mercury News: "Obviously I'm not happy about it, but all I can do is keep my head high and hope that the next time I'm here I stick."
What prompted the A's to demote a healthy Hahn, who had a 3.00 ERA through just two starts?
It really had little to do with production. The A's began a six-games-in-five-days stretch with Saturday's double-header, signaling the need for another starter before Wednesday's game against the Red Sox. While Wendelken was the first pitcher to get the call, it's likely that the righty will soon be swapped for one of Nashville's starters. That starter is almost sure to be Erik Surkamp, the Sounds' scheduled Wednesday starter who has already made four starts with Oakland this season.
While it's unfortunate that Hahn cannot be recalled from his minor-league assignment until May 18 (10 days is the minimum MiLB stay), someone had to go. The real surprise here is that it wasn't Sean Manea who was sent down. Since his call-up in late April, the southpaw has had back-to-back starts where he's given up four runs in five innings.
It's no wonder that Hahn -- who went 6-6 with a 3.35 ERA in 16 starts for the A's last season -- was a little ticked by the move.
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