by Bill Craig / A’s Farm Nashville Correspondent
With top prospects like Franklin Barreto, Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and Sheldon Neuse on the roster, heading into the 2018 season, most of the focus was clearly on Nashville’s promising crop of position players. But so far this season, it’s been the Sounds’ pitching staff which has really impressed.
Long-time pitching coach Rick Rodriguez must be quite pleased with the performance of his pitchers in the early going this season. Nashville’s staff currently boasts the best ERA in the league at 2.34 and has allowed just two home runs to opposing hitters all season. And on Thursday night in Iowa, the staff earned its league-leading fifth shutout.
RHP James Naile (3-0, 0.00) has been the clear ace of the Sounds’ starting staff, collecting a win in all three of his starts this season. The 25-year-old, who was the A’s 20th-round draft pick in 2015, was recently named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week after extending his scoreless-innings streak to 17 2/3 frames over his first three starts. Naile started the year as Oakland’s 26th-ranked prospect by Baseball America, but he notched his third win of the young season, and his first career complete game, last Sunday in a 1-0 shutout win over Omaha to cement his status as one of Nashville’s most promising pitching prospects.
It’s Nashville’s bullpen, however, that’s been propelling the success of the Sounds’ pitching staff in the early going. The team’s relievers have accounted for five of the Sounds’ first eight wins this season and have compiled an outstanding 1.83 ERA while notching 59 strikeouts over 64 innings of work. And it’s not just a small handful of hurlers who’ve been contributing to the bullpen’s success. More than half a dozen different relievers have made big contributions in the bullpen.
RHP Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.69), who was just recalled by the A’s on Friday, tossed 13 innings over three relief appearances during his time with the Sounds, striking out 12 while allowing just one earned run. Bassitt was particularly impressive in an outing against Iowa last week when he struck out 6 over 4 scoreless frames to earn his first win of the season.
RHP Raul Alcantara (2-0, 4.09) has pitched 11 innings while serving as a long reliever for the Sounds, striking out four and walking three on his way to earning a pair of wins. The 25-year-old originally came to the A’s from the Red Sox in the Josh Reddick deal, and he first arrived in Nashville in the summer of 2016, when he put up an impressive 1.18 ERA in eight starts for the Sounds.
Before making his mark in Oakland earlier this week by throwing four scoreless innings in a pair of relief appearances for the A’s, RHP Lou Trivino (0-0, 0.00) appeared in three games for the Sounds. And the 26-year-old failed to allow either a hit or a walk while notching eight strikeouts over 4 1/3 scoreless frames for Nashville.
RHP Bobby Wahl (1-0, 0.00), who was the A’s 5th-round draft pick in 2013, has been dominant in his five appearances for the Sounds this season. The 26-year-old has allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out eight batters over six scoreless innings for Nashville. The hard-throwing righty appeared in 11 games for Nashville last season, notching 22 strikeouts in just 13 innings of work.
RHP Josh Lucas (0-0, 0.00), who was recalled by Oakland on Friday, was acquired by the A’s from St. Louis in exchange for RHP Casey Meisner just shortly after the conclusion of spring training. Before Friday’s promotion, the 27-year-old Florida native made four relief appearances for Nashville and failed to allow a hit or a run over 4 2/3 frames for the Sounds.
LHP Jeremy Bleich (0-0, 0.00), signed by the A’s as a minor league free agent in the offseason, has been the top lefty out of the Sounds bullpen this season. The 30-year-old minor league veteran has made four relief appearances for Nashville and has struck out five while walking none over 5 1/3 scoreless frames for the Sounds.
RHP Daniel Gossett (0-0, 0.00) has made one relief appearance and one start for the Sounds and has been dazzling in both. The 25-year-old pitched four scoreless frames in relief against Iowa last week, allowing just one hit and fanning four. Gossett got the start against Iowa on Tuesday and had an impressive outing, striking out six while walking three over four more scoreless innings of work for Nashville.
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