Starting pitcher Dan Straily will be called up from Triple-A Sacramento and join the Oakland Athletics Thursday, reports Susan Slusser of sfgate.com.
Slusser also reports that infielder Adam Rosales will join Straily and that no players will hit the disabled list. That means two players will need to be demoted to make room for the new guys, with Brandon Hicks and Jim Miller being vulnerable -- with Travis Blackley headed to the bullpen to make room in the rotation for Straily.
Straily entered the season for Double-A Midland with little fanfare. He's a 23-year-old right hander who was drafted in the 24th round of the 2009 draft and had never appeared on Baseball America's top 100 prospects list.
After going 3-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.09 WHIP for Midland, Straily got the call to Triple-A. Surely his 108 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings help. Upon arrival to Triple-A, Straily became dominant.
Through eight Triple-A starts, Straily is 5-2 with a 1.36 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 67 strikeouts in 53 innings. Keep in mind, this is in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
"I've definitely been a late bloomer," said Straily (MiLB.com). "It's taken me a while to find what kind of pitcher I was and what pitches I throw and what they do. Obviously, well worth the wait."
And now he's joining a pennant race.
For more baseball news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnBaseball on Twitter, subscribe to the RSS feed and "like" us on Facebook.
