A's pitching off to nice start in camp

Kyle Muller got the ball on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers

The A's dropped the second game of camp, 4-2, against the Los Angeles Dodgers, moving them to 0-2 in the early going. To be fair, the Dodgers have scored 29 runs in their first four spring games, so holding them to four is something that the young A's can hopefully build upon moving forward.

Kyle Muller, the 6-foot-7 lefty that was acquired as part of the Sean Murphy trade, got the ball for the first two frames and allowed two hits, one run on a solo homer from Josh Outman, walked one, and struck out three. Nearly a year ago to the day he tossed two scoreless innings in his spring debut with the A's. Over the course of the next four outings, he racked up 16 innings pitched and allowed 13 earned runs. How he performs over the coming weeks could be telling.

It's also important to note that Muller is out of minor-league options, meaning that he has to make the Opening Day roster or be subjected to waivers before the A's could send him to Triple-A Las Vegas. He's not expected to be in the mix for a rotation spot in camp, but he could find himself a role as the long-man out of the bullpen. More outings like the one he provided against a stout Dodgers lineup that included Manuel Margot, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy, and Chris Taylor, and Muller should find himself in Oakland in a month. 

Dany Jiménez worked a clean frame in relief in the third, while L.A. scored two off of left-hander Francisco Pérez, who walked one and allowed a pair of hits. Pérez is likely to start in the minors as bullpen depth after being removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Ross Stripling. Pérez re-signed with the A's on a minor league deal a week after his removal. 

Ryan Noda is in midseason form already, collecting a walk in the first, which was followed by newcomer Miguel Andújar singling to center. Andújar figures to be a platoon outfielder for the A's this season. 

Another new addition to the system, Daz Cameron, singled in the second off Dodgers' closer Evan Phillips. It's important to remember that during these games, sometimes the competition matters. If a player is collecting hits late against minor league arms, but ends up hitting over .300, then the end line will look great on a stat sheet, but for Cameron to go out there and get a hit off a contending team's closer is a pretty good look for the outfielder. 

The A's did their scoring in the seventh, with 2023 first rounder Jacob Wilson singling to right in his first-ever spring at-bat. Hoy Park followed that up with a double that scored Wilson. He would score himself on a wild pitch after tagging on a fly out to center. Park is 2-for-3 through two games with a run scored and an RBI. 

The only other hit for the A's on Sunday was a double off the bat of Zack Gelof, whose brother Jake was the Dodgers' second-round selection in last year's Draft. Jake made an appearance in the bottom of the eighth, and struck out facing the A's Brady Basso. The 26-year-old right-hander was added to the A's 40-man ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. He posted a 2.42 ERA between Lansing and Midland last season after missing the entire 2022 campaign following Tommy John surgery. He pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. 

Ross Stripling was scheduled to pitch on Monday, but due to a minor cut on his finger is being pushed back a couple of days. Mitch Spence, who was already scheduled to pitch, will get the start instead. Spence was the first overall pick by the A's in the Rule 5 Draft in December and is vying for a spot either in the rotation, or as a relief option. 

While the A's have started 0-2 this spring, the pitching has been pretty decent. They've allowed five walks in each game which isn't ideal, but most of that damage has been done by pitchers expected to start the season in the minor leagues. Joe Boyle, Joey Estes, and now Muller, have combined for six innings while allowing one run, three hits, one walk, and striking out eight.