One of the organization’s more interesting prospects Brady Basso has been dealing with a shoulder strain that has kept him out of action for the entirety of the season. Suffered during Spring Training, that has kept the young left-hander out of the team’s pitching plans, a less-than-stellar outcome for both him and the organization as they try to identify arms that’ll help them out down the road. A setback in June extended his time on the shelf and the A’s have yet to see the 27-year-old make his 2025 debut for the big league club.
We’re finally getting close to that happening. Basso was activated off the 60-day IL yesterday afternoon, but then subsequently optioned to Triple-A to continue his buildup. It’s been a while since the lefty got into a game but Basso has made a pair of rehab appearances with the Aviators already, pitching a pair of innings over two relief appearances. He only allowed one hit but the most important thing has been getting him into a game and getting out healthy. So far so good.
The team is buried in the standings and the youth movement is in full swing. There is plenty of room on the roster to get Basso up and pitching for the big league team but his role for the final month and a half of the year hasn’t been fully determined. The young lefty has already made his big league debut last year and looked solid over four starts (plus three relief appearances). A starting pitcher by nature, Basso is essentially redoing his Spring Training and is running out of time to build up to a starter’s workload. He could be an option for the relief corps, but if he can build up enough then there should be an opportunity for him to get a start here or there over the final few weeks. It’d be huge for the team’s future prospects if he can get back to the squad and look like a capable and viable option for next season. The plan is to ease him back into pitching slowly but the door isn’t shut on getting back to starting, per Mark Kotsay:
Getting Basso off the 60-day IL did require a 40-man roster move and luckily it was an easy one for the front office to make. Veteran backstop Austin Wynns’ season is officially over as he’ll take Basso’s spot on the 60-day IL. That’s a disappointing outcome for everyone after he strained his abdominal muscle. A midseason trade from the Cincinnati Reds brought Wynns aboard and he started out swinging the bat well, hitting two homers in his first five games. The bat did cool off but he still served as a solid backup to starter Shea Langeliers. The team still has the contract rights to Wynns so if they want to bring him back next year they’ll have the option to do just that. The 34-year-old has bounced around quite a bit in his career and he’d surely like the chance to settle in just one place in the waning years of his playing career. We’ll find out this offseason the route they go for the backup catcher role, which will likely be handled by rookie Willie MacIver the rest of the season. Wynns’ future with the club could depend on how MacIver does over the final few weeks of the year.
We got another game against the Rays tonight folks. Let’s right the ship with a win. Until then, have an excellent day everyone!
Could be getting out defensive stud back soon:
Another positive injury development:
New pitching prospect Braden Nett gets the win for his new organization: