Before Tuesday's series opener against the Tigers in Detroit, the Oakland Athletics announced a few roster moves including the reinstation of former Atlanta Braves catcher Manny Piña from the 60-day injured list.
Carlos Perez, the A's main catcher along with Shea Langeliers, suffered a broken left thumb of late leading the franchise to putting him on the 10-day IL.
To fill the hole open by Perez, the A's brought in Piña, who was acquired from the Braves in the trade that involved Sean Murphy last offseason.
Piña finally got to debut with his new club this season and on July 4th of all days! The uber-veteran went 0-for-2 against the Tigers with a strikeout. Not optimal!
That said, we gotta give the man some room for improvement considering he's coming off the IL having suffered a left wrist sprain last spring. Keep calm!
We have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/q8CHSfIxH1
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 4, 2023
Chad Smith, a season-long reliever for the A's (with an ugly 6.75 ERA this season), was the main casualty from Piña's reinstatement as Smith got designated for assignment to make room for the veteran Latin catcher.
Shortstop Nick Allen was recalled by the A's for the third time this season, already starting against Detroit in the A's extra-innings 1-0 victory on Tuesday. Allen, like pretty much all of his teammates, didn't hit a pitch going 0-for-3 against the Tigers.
Finally, and following Allen's promotion from Triple-A Las Vegas, outfielder Conner Capel was optioned the other way around to AAA to make room for Allen in the MLB roster of the A's.
As was the case a few days ago, the moves worked for the A's this time to get things going on the road against Detroit. Oakland will be back on the pitch on Wednesday for the second of a six-game road trip (Detroit now, Boston later) leading up to the All-Star break next week.