Athletics' Brent Rooker: Undergoes forearm surgery
Rotowire
Athletics general manager David Forst revealed Friday that Rooker underwent right forearm extensor surgery Tuesday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Rooker evidently dealt with discomfort in his elbow/forearm for the bulk of the season. It certainly didn't affect his performance at the plate, as he posted a .927 OPS with 39 home runs, but it could be at least part of the reason he didn't start a game in the outfield after May. Rooker is expected to be 100 percent healthy for the start of spring training.
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Athletics' Darell Hernaiz: Contributes as in-game replacement
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Hernaiz entered Sunday's loss to the Mariners as a defensive replacement at third base in the seventh inning and went 1-for-1 with a two-run double.
Hernaiz made things interesting during his only plate appearance, doubling home Seth Brown and Zack Gelof in the ninth inning to slice a four-run deficit in half. The young infielder played only 48 games at the major-league level during his rookie 2024 campaign, with a near two-month stay on the injured list due to an ankle issue playing a large part. Hernaiz finished with just a .192 average and .503 OPS across 135 plate appearances; however, the combination of his adequate 8.1 percent walk rate and 20.0 percent strikeout rate in his first brush with big-league arms and his career .294/.358/.424 minor-league slash line imply he could certainly take a notable step forward if he remains healthy in 2025.
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Athletics' Tyler Nevin: Drives in two Sunday
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Nevin went 1-for-3 with a two-run double in a loss to the Mariners on Sunday.
Drawing his second consecutive start, Nevin finally put the Athletics' first two runs of the day on the board with his seventh-inning two-bagger, which plated Seth Brown and Tyler Soderstrom. The veteran finished the season with hits in three straight games, but after a hot start that saw him hit .313 over his first 26 contests, Nevin produced an anemic .148/.247/.253 slash line across 186 plate appearances (62 games) the rest of the way at the big-league level.
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Athletics' Seth Brown: Productive showing in finale
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Brown went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs in a loss to the Mariners on Sunday.
Brown posted the only multi-hit effort of the afternoon for the Athletics in the season finale, his first performance with a pair of knocks since Sept. 6. The productive afternoon prevented him from heading into the offseason mired in a slump, as he'd gone just 2-for-24 over the prior seven games. The 2024 campaign was essentially a tale of two seasons for Brown -- he earned himself a mid-June outright assignment to Triple-A Las Vegas by posting a .189 average, .557 OPS and 33.8 percent strikeout rate over his first 63 games, but he generated a .271 average and .760 OPS across 61 games upon returning shortly before the All-Star break, striking out at a more modest 22.4 percent clip in the process.
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Athletics' Mitch Spence: Takes loss in season finale
Rotowire
Spence (8-10) allowed six runs on seven hits and struck out five without walking a batter over 4.1 innings to take the loss Sunday versus the Mariners.
Spence hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of his previous six starts, but he struggled late in his outing Sunday. The Mariners put up two runs in the fourth inning and another four runs in the fifth, capped off by a Cal Raleigh home run. There were some promising stretches for Spence, but the 26-year-old rookie also had some struggles, ending the year with a 4.58 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 126:44 K:BB over 151.1 innings across 35 appearances (24 starts). Spence should have a good chance of making the Athletics' rotation in 2025.
Athletics' Lawrence Butler: Not in Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
Butler is not in Sunday's lineup against the Mariners.
Butler had been operating as an everyday player for Oakland, but he'll get the regular-season finale off with Seth Brown starting in right field and Daz Cameron getting a rare start in left field against a righty (Logan Gilbert). Butler hit .280 with two home runs and six steals in 23 September games, and he's in line to be one of the focal points of the A's offense in 2025.
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Athletics' Mason Miller: Falters in ninth Saturday
Rotowire
Miller was charged with his third blown save of the season in an extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday, allowing two earned runs on two hits over one inning. He struck out three.
Miller surrendered a game-tying, two-run home run to Luke Raley in the bottom of the ninth inning. The blown save was the right-hander's first since June 14, and the pair of earned runs snapped a four-appearance scoreless streak. Despite the stumble, Miller heads into the final day of the 2024 campaign basking in a breakout season that's seen him accrue 28 saves alongside a 2-2 record, 2.49 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and elite 14.4 K/9 across 65 innings (55 appearances).
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Athletics' Ross Stripling: Returns in relief Saturday
Rotowire
Stripling fired a scoreless sixth inning in an extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday, issuing a walk.
The veteran right-hander had been activated from the injured list Friday, and manager Mark Kotsay opted to have him return in a relief capacity. Stripling has struggled to a 2-11 record, 6.01 ERA and 1.54 WHIP across 22 appearances (14 starts) in his debut Athletics campaign, making him a dubious candidate for a return to the team in free agency this offseason.
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Athletics' Joey Estes: Solid showing in final start
Rotowire
Estes did not factor into the decision in the Athletics' extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out two and also hit a batter.
Estes put together a serviceable performance to wrap up his 2024 campaign, bouncing back from back-to-back outings in which he surrendered a combined 11 runs on 16 hits and a walk over five innings. The right-hander allowed one ball to leave the yard Saturday -- a fourth-inning solo home run by Cal Raleigh -- while also yielding a two-run single to Josh Rojas in the same frame. After getting his first taste of the big leagues in 2023 via a pair of starts, Estes worked to a 7-9 record, 5.01 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 127.2 innings over 25 appearances (24 starts) this season, tossing a shutout along the way.
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Athletics' Tyler Soderstrom: Hits ninth homer Saturday
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Soderstrom went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in an extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday.
Soderstrom launched his ninth home run of the season in the sixth inning, a 369-foot solo shot that knotted the score at 3-3. The rookie has now hit safely in five of the last six games, and heading into the regular-season finale Sunday, he boasts a .282 batting average and .887 OPS in 43 plate appearances since returning from the injured list Sept. 14.
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Athletics' Shea Langeliers: Connects for three-run shot in loss
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Langeliers went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run and a walk in an extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday.
Langeliers erased a 4-3 deficit in the ninth inning via a two-out, 357-foot shot off Collin Snider with Max Schuemann and JJ Bleday aboard to give the Athletics a temporary 6-4 lead. It was the slugging backstop's first homer in eight games and put him at 29 for the season, while also pushing his September RBI total to an impressive 16 over 23 contests. It's been a season of across-the-board improvement for Langeliers at the plate, and all three components of his .224/.288/.450 slash line heading into the final day of the regular season qualify as career bests.
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Athletics' Brent Rooker: Launches 39th homer
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Rooker went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk in an extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday.
Rooker took Emerson Hancock deep in the fifth inning with Max Schuemann aboard to cut a 3-0 deficit to one run. The round tripper marked Rooker's first time leaving the yard since Sept. 16 and puts him just one shy of reaching the 40-homer mark heading into the final day of the regular season Sunday.
Gelof isn't in Oakland's lineup for Saturday's game against the Mariners.
Gelof went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts and notched his 25th stolen base during Friday's contest, and he'll now give way to Max Schuemann at second base while Tyler Nevin enters the lineup to fill the opening at third.
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Athletics' Kyle McCann: Draws rare start Friday
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McCann, drawing his first start since Sept. 15, went 1-for-3 in a loss to the Mariners on Friday.
McCann had been limited to a trio of pinch-hit appearances since his last turn in the starting nine nearly two weeks prior. The rookie backstop's bat faded over the latter portion of the season after a hot start to his big-league career, but his nine extra-base hits, 15 RBI, 15 walks, 13 runs, .241 batting average and .700 OPS give him a foundation to build on going into his first offseason as a major-league player.
Gelof went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Friday's 2-0 loss to the Mariners.
Gelof's bat has faded late in the season -- he's 6-for-40 (.150) over his last 11 games with two steals in that span. The second baseman is up to 25 steals on 28 attempts this year, offering some positives with his speed despite a difficult campaign at the plate. He's added a .211/.271/.364 slash line with 17 home runs, 49 RBI, 59 runs scored, 20 doubles and two triples over 136 contests.
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Athletics' JP Sears: Quality start in loss
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Sears (11-13) allowed two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four over six innings to take the loss Friday versus the Mariners.
Sears ended the season with four losses in his last five starts, allowing 17 runs across 29 innings in September. He recorded 13 quality starts in 32 outings this season, including six quality starts since the beginning of August. Sears concludes the campaign with a 4.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 137:49 K:BB across a career-high 180.2 innings as the Athletics' top starting pitcher.
