A's to Place Austin Adams on the IL

Jason Burke | Aug 17, 2024

Jul 19, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Austin Adams (29) reacts after the Athletics recorded an out against the Los Angeles Angels in the sixth inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

After the Oakland Athletics 2-0 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants, A's manager Mark Kotsay was questioned about some of the bullpen decisions that were made that led to Michel Otañez earning his first career save. The answer was that Mason Miller and Tyler Ferguson were unavailable due to high pitch counts on Thursday in New York, and Austin Adams is headed to the IL.

Adams has been great for Oakland this season after being traded to the A's from the New York Mets for cash, posting a 3.92 ERA across 41 1/3 innings out of the bullpen with his slider-heavy approach leading to 53 strikeouts.

The 33-year-old veteran made some headlines earlier this week after mimicing the Mets' "OMG!" celebration on Tuesday night in Queens. After hitting a home run on Wednesday, Francisco Lindor seemed to repay the favor with an "OMG!" celebration of his own towards both team's bullpens in right field.

Kotsay did not announce who would be replacing Adams in the A's bullpen, but there would appear to be two options for the role.

The first would be to simply call up Will Klein, whom the A's optioned to Triple-A before Saturday's game. Since he would be replacing an injured player, he would not have to wait to re-join the club.

The other would be to bring back Dany Jiménez, who is currently on a rehab assignment with the Las Vegas Aviators. He has made four appearances for Vegas since August 6, averaging 93.8 miles per hour with his fastball in his most recent appearance on Friday night. He faced three batters, throwing six pitches to each, and recorded one out, walking one and allowing a hit.

The big question here is whether or not the A's feel that he is ready to return to the big leagues, since they wouldn't want to rush his return just to fill a spot in the bullpen.

We will know for certain which direction the A's choose on Sunday morning.