Athletics promote former top international prospect, to make debut Wednesday

The Oakland Athletics are promoting pitching prospect Luis Medina, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Medina is expected to make his major league debut Wednesday. The A’s announced the promotion of Medina with right-hander James Kaprielian getting optioned in a corresponding move.

Medina, 24 in May, was signed by the Yankees as an international amateur in 2015 and quickly got himself onto the radar of prospect evaluators. By the start of 2018, he was considered the No. 7 prospect in New York’s system by Baseball America. As he worked his way up toward the majors, he stayed roughly in that range, bouncing between the No. 7 and No. 11 spots.

After the minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020, Medina split 2021 between High-A and Double-A, posting a 3.39 ERA in 106 1/3 innings. His 13.3% walk rate was certainly on the high side, but he paired that with a 29.5% strikeout rate. He returned to Double-A in 2022, registering a 3.38 ERA in 17 starts with similar peripherals.

He then came to the Athletics, one of four young players who came over in the deadline deal that sent Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. His first stint with his new club didn’t go so well, as he had an 11.76 ERA in seven starts after the trade last year. But he seems back on track here in 2023 as he’s made three Triple-A starts with a 3.86 ERA, though the control continues to be an issue as he walked 20% of batters faced.

Despite the lack of command, Medina continues to be touted on account of his high-octane stuff. BA ranked him No. 13 in the A’s system coming into this year. He routinely touches triple digits with his fastball, in addition to having a curveball and a changeup. The Yankees added him to their 40-man roster way back in Nov. 2019, to protect him from that year’s Rule 5 draft, but the A’s were given a fourth option year that allowed them to send him to Triple-A this year.

He’ll now get a crack to test his stuff against big league hitters. The A’s have very little cemented in their rotation, having traded away their established players in recent years. On top of that, players like Paul Blackburn, Drew Rucinski and Freddy Tarnokhave yet to appear this season due to injuries. Shintaro Fujinami struggled enough that he’s being moved to the bullpen now. Medina will jump up to join a rotation that currently consists of JP Sears, Mason Miller, Ken Waldichuk and Kyle Muller, though Rucinski is on a rehab assignment and could be in the mix soon.

Kaprielian seemed like a potential mainstay of the rotation not too long ago, making 21 starts for the A’s in 2021 and 26 more last year, posting ERAs just north of 4.00 in each of those campaigns. However, he underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason and has been lit up for a 12.94 ERA through three starts and three relief outings in the early going this year. He’ll head to Triple-A and try to get back on track.