In order to make room for Friday's starter, Gunnar Hoglund, on the 26-man roster, the Athletics optioned Carlos Duran, a former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect that they acquired in the Esteury Ruiz trade last month.
Duran was called up after Tuesday's blowout loss to the Texas Rangers, where starter Jacob Lopez only went 2.2 innings and A's manager Mark Kotsay needed to deploy long-man Hogan Harris for 2.2 innings of his own to get to the other members of the bullpen, and backup catcher/occasional relief pitcher Jhonny Pereda.
The hard-throwing 23-year-old did not take the field for the A's, but he was on the roster for a couple of games--both resulting in A's wins.
Duran's season began in Triple-A with Oklahoma City, the Dodger affiliate, where he posted a 2.08 ERA across 4.1 innings of work, holding a 1.62 WHIP. After the trade, the righty reported to the A's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, and his numbers have not been quite as promising.
In six games spanning 11.2 innings of work, Duran has an 8.49 ERA with a 1.63 WHIP, though he was walking batters at a slightly lower clip, down to 6.17 per nine, which is still extremely high. His strikeout rate also dropped from 16.62 per nine in a small sample with the Dodgers minor league club to 7.71 per nine in the A's system.
While he was unable to make his MLB debut this time around, the hard part is arguably over. With the promotion, the A's had to add him to the 40-man roster in the first place, which they did by moving José Leclerc to the 60-day IL to open up a spot. Now that he's on the 40-man, he's on the short list of potential options for a promotion should an injury occur.
Duran, Elvis Alvarado, and Ryan Cusick are technically the only relief pitchers on the 40-man that aren't already on the A's roster. Cusick has been struggling this season, holding a 7.45 ERA (9.47 FIP), while Alvarado, 26, holds a 4.15 ERA (3.09 FIP). The recently demoted Lopez would be another option the A's could look to, though he's seen as more of a starting option at that level.
It's still early in the season, which means there's a good chance that we'll see Duran in the green and gold again at some point this year.
