Oakland Athletics Select OF/C Matt McBride; Option RHP Andrew Triggs
Outfielder/Catcher Matt McBride Joins Oakland Athletics; Andrew Triggs Sent Back to Triple-A
On Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics made another set of roster moves ahead of their third tilt against the Detroit Tigers. Outfielder and catcher Matt McBride will join the A’s active roster. McBride has hit .188/.297/.344 for the Nashville Sounds so far this season, with one home run, five walks and three RBIs in 37 plate appearances.
Last season in Colorado, McBride had 43 plate appearances with the Rockies. He had seven hits, none of them for extra bases, and no walks. His .167/.186/.167 was dismal, and there’s little to suggest he’ll hit better than that for the Athletics. Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the second round of the 2006 Draft, McBride has spent most of his career in the minors.
It’s expected that McBride will serve as the backup catcher for the A’s over the next two days. Susan Slusser reported via Twitter that Josh Phegley has been playing through “left wrist soreness after blocking a lot of pitches recently”. This will let the A’s use both Phegley and Vogt, without encountering a situation where they’d need to lose their designated hitter or use another player behind the plate in the event of an injury.
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To make room on the active roster, right-hander Andrew Triggs was optioned to Triple-A.
Triggs made his major league debut on Monday against the Tigers, delivering a one-two-three inning for the A’s. The 27-year-old started his big league career with a strikeout of Tyler Collins, then got Mike Aviles on a pop-up. Jose Iglesias lined out to center field to end the inning. Naturally, Stephen Vogt snagged the ball used on the knee-buckling called third strike for Triggs to keep.
Earlier this spring, we profiled Andrew Triggs shortly after the A’s acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s had placed Triggs on the 40-man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, but ended up releasing him in order to make room for slugger Pedro Alvarez. That left him up for grabs, and the Athletics cashed in on the chance to acquire a side-arming minor league closer.
Triggs pitched well in his brief appearance, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in an Oakland uniform before long.
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In a corresponding move, the Athletics transferred left-hander Felix Doubront to the 60-day disabled list. Doubront made the team out of Spring Training, but exited his final exhibition game with forearm soreness. He later had Tommy John surgery, and will not pitch again this season.