Alcantara re-signed with Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization on Thursday, Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reports.
Alcantara compiled a 2.67 ERA over 31 starts for the Bears in 2022 and will receive a healthy $1.3 million to return for another season. The 31-year-old last appeared in the majors in 2017 and has spent the last five seasons pitching in Japan and Korea.
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Raul Alcantara: Headed to Korea
Rotowire
Alcantara signed a one-year, $650,000 contract with the KT Wiz of the Korean Baseball Organization on Monday, Yoo Jee-ho of the Yonhap News Agency reports.
Alcantara, who submitted a 7.19 ERA across 46.1 innings in the big leagues with the Athletics between 2016 and 2017, spent all of last season at Oakland's Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. Considering he posted a 5.29 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 53:14 K:BB over 83.1 innings in the Pacific Coast League, Alcantara likely would have had to settle for a minor-league deal had he remained stateside. Instead, he'll opt for a more significant payday overseas, with the hope of pitching well enough in Korea to attract renewed interest from MLB teams ahead of the 2020 season.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Notches second victory in Triple-A
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Alcantara (2-0) fired four scoreless innings in Triple-A Nashville's 1-0 win over Iowa on Thursday, allowing two hits and a walk while recording three strikeouts.
The 25-year-old bounced back nicely from a rough outing versus Omaha his last time out, one in which he allowed four earned runs on six hits and a walk over three innings. Alcantara has been nothing if not intriguing during a long professional career that dates back to 2011, posting a sub-3.00 ERA in five different stops and exceeding the 5.00 mark in four other stints, including both of his major-league tenures in 2016 and 2017. He projects to remain with the Sounds for the time being, but injuries or poor performances at the big-league level could certainly earn him a callup, especially if he continues performing well in Nashville.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Outrighted from 40-man roster
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Alcantara was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday, Julian McWilliams of The Athletic reports.
Alcantara passed through waivers unclaimed and will begin the 2018 campaign back in the minors. The right-hander appeared in eight games for Oakland last season, posting an unsightly 7.13 ERA and 1.42 WHIP with a 12:12 K:BB over 24 innings split between the bullpen and rotation. He will be utilized as organizational depth this year.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Touched up for long ball Sunday
Rotowire
Alcantara allowed an earned run on a hit -- a solo home run -- and a walk over one inning in Sunday's 5-1 Bay Bridge Series exhibition loss to the Giants. He also recorded a strikeout.
The solo blast he allowed to Pablo Sandoval in the eighth served as the only blemish of the afternoon for the Athletics' relief corps, which fired 4.1 scoreless frames otherwise. Alcantara has surrendered an earned run apiece in each of his last three trips to the mound, including two homers overall. Manager Bob Melvin attributes a good deal of his pitcher's struggles to the lack of a diversified arsenal that he can deploy alongside his mid-90s fastball, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports. "He's got to start throwing his breaking ball for a strike and having a secondary pitch," Melvin said of Alcantara. "That's been the issue with him. He's got a good fastball but at the major league level if they know it's coming, they'll turn it around."
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Handed loss after allowing four runs Friday
Rotowire
Alcantara (1-2) was the pitcher of record in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Rangers, covering 4.1 innings and conceding four runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out two batters during the 80-pitch outing.
Injuries to Sean Manaea and Jharel Cotton have paved the way for Alcantara to stick in the rotation for three straight turns, but after impressing in the first two of those outings, the rookie endured some turbulence Friday. He was ultimately chased from the contest in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he allowed a leadoff single to Drew Robinson before yielding a two-run homer to Shin-Soo Choo. While his season will end on a sour note, Alcantara should have the opportunity to compete for a rotation spot with the Athletics next spring, though it seems more likely he'll open the 2018 campaign as a starter for Triple-A Nashville.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Slated for Friday start
Rotowire
Alcantara has been confirmed as Friday's starter against the Rangers, Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California reports.
Scheduled starter Jharel Cotton (elbow) was shut down for the remainder of the season Tuesday, so Alcantara will receive one last turn in the rotation. He faces a tough road matchup with the Rangers in Arlington, so his fantasy appeal for Friday's start is limited.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Shines with win in spot start
Rotowire
Alcantara (1-1) earned the win Saturday against the Rangers, throwing five shutout innings while working around two hits and two walks in Oakland's 1-0 victory over the Rangers. He struck out five.
A last-minute replacement for Sean Manaea (back), Alcantara spun a gem, eking out just enough innings to qualify for the victory. He threw 49 strikes in 86 pitches, though, which reflects his risky skill set. Still, AL-only players and mixed streamers desperate enough to start him came away with a pleasant surprise. He may take another turn if Manaea can't go Thursday on the road against these same Rangers.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Thrust into start Saturday
Rotowire
Alcantara will make an emergency start Saturday against the Rangers in place of the scratched Sean Manaea (back), Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Sean Manaea was scratched with a minor back issue, so Alcantara will step in to make his second spot start in the past week. He held his own while filling in for Jharel Cotton (groin) earlier in the week, striking out two batters in 3.2 scoreless innings. He likely won't pitch far enough into the game to qualify for a win.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Solid in Monday emergency start
Rotowire
Alcantara, who was a last-minute starter Monday in place of Jharel Cotton (groin), didn't factor into the decision against the Tigers but allowed just two hits and a walk over 3.2 scoreless innings. He struck out two.
Alcantara was much better than his early exit would imply -- a pitch count of 67 before the end of the fourth inning got him the hook. However, the outing was encouraging considering the 24-year-old right-hander had allowed a pair of earned runs over two innings in relief against the Red Sox last Tuesday. Alcantara has looked much better overall in his three September appearances for the Athletics as compared to his earlier big-league stint this season, a stretch during which he posted a 16.71 ERA in seven innings across three outings.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Takes hill for emergency start Monday
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Alcantara will make an emergency start Monday against Detroit in place of the scratched Jharel Cotton, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.
Alcantara hasn't thrown more than three innings in his four appearances for Oakland, so expect this to be a Johnny Wholestaff game for the Athletics. With the expanded roster, the club should have no trouble finding enough relievers to finish the game.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Called up to Oakland
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Alcantara was called up from Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday.
The right-hander was designated for assignment in April, but he earned his way back onto the 40-man roster by posting a 2.67 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and four saves with Nashville. While Alcantara can pump his fastball in at around 94 mph on average, he's never missed bats at even an average clip for relievers, so it's hard to imagine he will be able to work his way up the bullpen hierarchy in Oakland.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Back from DL with Nashville
Rotowire
Alcantara (biceps) has allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out two across 2.2 innings in two appearances since returning from the disabled list with Triple-A Nashville on Saturday.
Alcantara had been out since late May with biceps tendinitis, but he seems to be having no issues on the mound now. He's having a solid season in the minors as a swing man, sporting a 2.89 ERA through 18.2 innings pitched, but his struggles in the big leagues likely will keep him in an organizational depth role.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Rehabbing from bicep injury
Rotowire
Alcantara has been out with bicep tendinitis since late May, Justin Perline of Baseball America reports.
A return date has yet to be announced, but Alcantara has recently made two appearances in the Rookie-level AZL. The 24-year-old was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville after a short stint with the Athletics in April, in which he allowed 15 runs (13 earned) over seven innings of work.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Outrighted to Triple-A
Rotowire
Alcantara cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville.
The 24-year-old was DFA'd after struggling through three appearances for the A's in which he allowed 10 hits and 13 earned runs across just 7.0 innings. As expected, he passed through waivers unclaimed and will now land in Nashville, where he'll attempt to sort things out.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Designated for assignment
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Alcantara was designated for assignment by the A's on Thursday.
So far this season, Alcantara has been a liability on the mound for the A's. Over three games (seven innings) he's allowed 13 runs and given up three home runs. His control has been lacking, as he currently owns a K:BB of 2:5. In a corresponding move, Cesar Valdez was recalled from Triple-A Nashville.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: First relief outing Friday
Rotowire
Alcantara struck out one and gave up two unearned runs on a walk, a balk and a hit batsman over two innings in a 7-2 loss to the Astros on Friday.
It was a rather unusual line for Alcantara, who was making his first appearance since being demoted to the bullpen after a disastrous start against the Rangers last week. After breezing through the eighth, Alcantara walked Jose Altuve to open the ninth and advanced him to second on a balk. A throwing error by Trevor Plouffe on a Carlos Correa grounder put the latter on second and brought Altuve home, and Alcantara continued to make life difficult on himself by hitting Alex Bregman, who eventually came home on a sacrifice fly. Despite the self-inflicted damage in the final frame, the outing had to be somewhat of a confidence booster for the 24-year-old after giving up eight earned runs over two innings in his only prior trip to the mound in 2017.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Loses spot in rotation
Rotowire
Alcantara is being replaced by Jesse Hahn in the starting rotation, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports. He will join the Athletics' bullpen.
Alcantara was given his shot in the team's starting rotation but wasn't able to take advantage. During Friday's contest against the Rangers, the 24-year-old was pestered for eight earned runs over two innings. He'll likely work in a long relief role out of the bullpen going forward.
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Athletics' Raul Alcantara: Hit hard in Friday loss
Rotowire
Alcantara (0-1) struck out one and gave up eight earned runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batsman over two innings in Friday's 10-5 loss to the Rangers.
Alcantara secured a spot in the rotation when Sonny Gray (lat) was deemed unfit to start the season, but Friday's results demonstrate why he may not be long for the job, irrespective of Gray's status. Alcantara got into trouble in the first by allowing a two-run homer to Rougned Odor, and a grand slam by Nomar Mazara capped a five-run second, giving way to Jesse Hahn, who may have pitched himself into a spot start next time out by firing six solid frames. Alcantara is out of minor league options, so his destiny could be decided in the coming days.
