OAKLAND — Sean Manaea struck out 12 batters over seven shutout innings (99 pitches) with the Las Vegas Aviators yesterday. In other words, he’s about as close as he can get to returning to the A’s rotation.
But there’s a problem. A good problem: the rotation as it stands doesn’t necessarily have any cracks. Chris Bassitt, who got the ball against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, has a 1.80 ERA over his last four starts. Tanner Roark and Mike Fiers have been consistent anchors while Brett Anderson and Homer Bailey continue to string together more quality starts than one-off clunkers.