KIrby Snead Shut Down--How That Impacts the A's Bullpen

During the A's broadcast on Tuesday, when Shintaro Fujinami was making his impressive debut, Ken Korach mentioned that Kirby Snead was dealing with some arm issues. Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle was told he has a left shoulder strain and will be shut down until he's asymptomatic. 

Snead, a 28-year-old left-hander, finished the 2022 season 1-1 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. Regardless, I still had him as a member of my projected Opening Day roster as the third left-hander out of the bullpen. His pitches have tons of movement, and I figured that with a full off-season with the A's, he'd come back and be ready for a breakout season. 

There's still about a month to go until Opening Day, but if this injury lingers for long, that could effectively take him out of consideration for a spot on the Opening Day roster with not enough time left to ramp back up. 

So if Snead is no longer in the bullpen mix, who could take his place? 

First, here's how the bullpen looks in my view:

Right-handers: Trevor May, Dany Jiménez, Zach Jackson, Chad Smith, Domingo Acevedo

Left-handers: Sam Moll , JP Sears 

That leaves one spot that needs to be filled, and even though Snead is a lefty, that doesn't mean that a lefty needs to fill that void with Moll and Sears already on the roster. 

So who are the options the A's could consider? On the 40-man roster, there are a slew of starters that could be used out of the bullpen. If James Kaprielian is healthy and ready to start the season, then whomever doesn't make the rotation between frontrunners for that fifth spot Ken Waldichuk and Kyle Muller could get a look. They could also go with Adam Oller or Adrián Martínez, both of whom have addressed issues that plagued them in 2022. 

The A's could also go with Freddy Tarnok, acquired from Atlanta in the Sean Murphy deal, who has been one of the most impressive pitchers in camp so far. After allowing a single and a walk in his first inning of work, he sat down the next six in order, striking out two. Tarnok, Oller, and Martínez could also be used as depth options in Las Vegas so that they can remain stretched out if they're needed in Oakland in a starting capacity.

Of the more traditional relievers, the A's have a number of options, but they're all non-roster invitees. Five names jump out as potential options, however. 

Drew Steckenrider just signed a minor league deal with the A's a couple of weeks ago, and has extensive big-league experience. In 2021 he led the Seattle Mariners in saves with 14, and finished the season with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP across 67.2 innings.

Last season didn't go quite as well, with the 32-year-old righty finishing with a 5.65 ERA in 14.1 innings. Steckenrider told reporters that he feels like he's on the same page with A's coaches heading into 2023. He has made one appearance this spring, and struck out two in a scoreless inning of work. 

Austin Pruitt, another veteran right-hander on a minor league deal, pitched with the A's last season and put up a roughly league average 4.23 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP across 55.1 innings. He was used in a variety of roles, even starting a game against the White Sox in September, where he tossed five perfect innings. He's going to pitch to contact and he's going to throw strikes. He's made it into two games this spring, and worked a clean first game, then allowed three hits and two runs against the Angels on Tuesday. 

Rico Garcia, a 29-year-old righty, was an early minor league signing this off-season, and he's an intriguing option. He has some time in the big leagues, but it's 24 innings spread across three seasons with three different clubs. Last year he was with the Baltimore Orioles and worked 8 innings with a 4.50 ERA, eight hits, three walks, and two strikeouts. His strikeout numbers just haven't translated at the big-league level. In Triple-A last season he rocked a 10.38 K/9 rate in 34.2 innings, but it dropped to 2.25 per nine with Baltimore. 

Garcia's fastball sits at 96 and his spin ranked in the 83rd percentile. The A's saw something in Garcia's repertoire that led them to sign him in November, and so far this spring he has made two appearances, given up two hits over two scoreless innings, hasn't allowed a walk, and has struck out four. If those numbers keep up as he faces more stiff competition, he could be in line for a spot on the A's Opening Day roster. 

Then there are two left-handers that could be given consideration: Jake Fishman and Garrett Williams. 

Fishman, 28, is set to pitch for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. He also made seven appearances out of the bullpen for the Miami Marlins last season, racking up a 4.09 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP in 11 innings pitched. Fishman's heater sits at 88 miles per hour, and he also throws a 76 mile per hour slider. That's the same combo (albeit a little less hard) as Sam Moll, but with much better command. Fishman didn't allow a single walk in his stint in the big leagues and has been a strike thrower throughout his time in the minors. 

In his first spring outing, he came on in relief of JP Sears with two runners on and two out. He needed one pitch to get out of the jam and end the inning. In his second outing against the Rockies, he walked one, struck out the next two, then allowed a double before getting an inning-ending groundout. 

Williams, 28, is the only one here not to have made his Major League debut. He spent the last two seasons in the Cardinals' organization, split between Double-A and Triple-A each year. In Double-A he finished with a 3.32 ERA in 2021, and a 3.94 in 2022. In Triple-A Memphis, he posted a 6.61 in '21 and a 6.85 in '22. The issue has been his walk rate, which sat at 6.65 per nine last season. He does have strikeout stuff, however, recording double-digit strikeout rates at each stop the past two seasons. 

So far this spring he has issued zero walks over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two. 

Of these options, Steckenrider and Pruitt have the most experience, but Garcia offers a certain amount of intrigue if the A's can get his strikeouts to translate in the Majors. Fishman has a history of command that the A's have to find enticing, and Williams can get strikeouts. 

It's anybody's spot to grab.