A’s roster moves: James Kaprielian activated, Adam Oller optioned

Another day, another Oakland A’s player back in action, as the barrage of early absences subsides.

On Sunday it’s pitcher James Kaprielian, who was activated from the 10-day injured list, the team announced. He’ll make his season debut this afternoon, starting against the Cleveland Guardians.

After a promising rookie campaign in 2021, Kaprielian was delayed this spring by irritation in his shoulder (AC joint), which caused him to sit out the Cactus League in March. He promptly resumed throwing but the original prognosis was that he would miss most of April while getting warmed up for the season, and indeed that’s exactly what happened. He made three rehab starts in the minors last month, and now he’s back in Oakland’s rotation on May 1.

• Kaprielian, 2021: 4.07 ERA, 119⅔ ip, 123 Ks, 41 BB, 19 HR, 4.33 FIP, .324 xwOBA

To make room on the active roster, rookie pitcher Adam Oller was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. Acquired over the offseason in the Chris Bassitt trade, Oller made the Opening Day roster and was ticketed for the bullpen, but instead bumped up to fill the vacant rotation spot. The right-hander made three starts for the A’s last month, including his MLB debut on April 12, and got knocked around each time.

• Oller, 2022: 11.17 ERA, 9⅔ ip, 8 Ks, 8 BB, 4 HR, 9.26 FIP

It was a rocky introduction to the majors, so the bulldog prospect will head back to the minors and gear up for his next opportunity in Oakland. He’ll be working on “locating his fastball, being able to execute pitches in the zone more consistently,” says manager Mark Kotsay, via Matt Kawahara of the S.F. Chronicle.

In the meantime, Kaprielian steps back into the rotation, rounding out a group that’s mostly been strong so far. Frankie Montas is settling into the ace role, Cole Irvin continues to eat quality innings, and Paul Blackburn and Daulton Jefferies have been sharp for five innings pretty much every time out. Now there’s another established MLB arm in the mix.

His return is also the latest for a club that dealt with tons of losses in the opening month. Two weeks into the new season, half the active roster was sitting out for various reasons, including seven on the COVID-related injured list, four on the 10-day injured list, two on the 60-day injured list, and one on the Suspended List. That’s 14 players on the shelf at once, but Kaprielian marks the ninth to come back already.

Here’s the updated 28-man roster. There are now two players on the COVID list (CV), two on the regular 10-day IL, two on the 60-day IL, and one on the Suspended List. Players marked with an asterisk* are specifically COVID substitutes called up under that special set of rules, and one of those subs later went on the COVID list.