A’s place Weems on IL; Kaprielian takes spot
Three years after acquiring James Kaprielian in the Sonny Gray trade with the Yankees, the A’s called up the righthander Tuesday and placed reliever Jordan Weems on the injured list.
Kaprielian, 26, was a firstround pick by the Yankees out of UCLA in 2015. His progress in the minors has been slowed by injuries. The A’s acquired him while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery and he did not pitch in 2017 or 2018 after also dealing with shoulder trouble.
On a video call Tuesday, Kaprielian said his path to the majors was “not the way I drew it up — but I’m here now.”
“There’s been a lot of trials,” Kaprielian said. “There’s been times where I’ve wondered looking at my arm and I’ve done all the work, I’ve put in the time. … I’ve taken the right steps and at times it didn’t go my way. I’m just excited to look back and know through all those times, I stuck with it.”
The A’s dealt Gray to New York at the 2017 trade deadline for Kaprielian, infielder Jorge Mateo and outfielder Dustin Fowler. Mateo did not appear in a game for the A’s before being traded to the Padres in June; Fowler played in 69 games for the A’s in 2018 and spent 2019 in the minors.
A’s manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday that Kaprielian remains “a guy that we really expect big things from down the road.
“He’s just really had to power through some injuries. When we saw him in summer camp, it was the best and freest that it looked like he had thrown. The velocity was there, but it just looked like he’s finally healthy. So I know he’s excited about getting here and we’re excited about having him here.”
Kaprielian still projects as a starter, but joins the A’s bullpen for now. Last season, he made 19 minorleague appearances, including 16 starts, in what he described as a “rebuilding year.” He had a 1.63 ERA in seven outings at DoubleA Midland and made one start at TripleA Las Vegas, allowing a run in four innings with six strikeouts.
“It was me getting back on my feet and getting back out there,” said Kaprielian, who has 111 strikeouts in 971⁄3 minorleague innings. “At this point, I feel back to my old self just about and pretty close to being where I want to be.”
Lefthander Sean Manaea said he threw with Kaprielian in Arizona during the layoff and that he has “some nasty stuff — he throws really hard. He’s got a really good changeup.”
“He’s been through a lot,” Manaea said. “I think that really shapes a guy. … All these adversities he’s gone through in his career already, he’s just kind of put his head down and kept going forward and now he’s here.”
Kaprielian was at the A’s alternate site in San Jose — where he said simulated games have been “competitive” — and said A’s director of player development Ed Sprague and minorleague managers Fran Riordan (TripleA) and Bobby Crosby (Class A) were among those present when he learned of his callup. He said they played a clip from “The Natural” before starting to clap and telling him: “You earned it.”
“All those guys have seen the struggles that I’ve gone through and the injuries and stuff and the work that I’ve put in,” Kaprielian said. “Behind all that pain, I think there’s a lot of greatness that can come from that. So it was a special moment.”
Weems, the catcherturnedhardthrowingreliever, was placed on the 10day IL with a strained right latissimus dorsi retroactive to Saturday. Weems has appeared in two games, making his MLB debut with three innings July 28 and last pitching Friday, throwing two scoreless innings. Melvin said Weems felt discomfort after the last outing and the A’s hoped to be “proactive” by putting him on the IL.
“He’s responded pretty well to treatment, but the last thing you want to do is take a chance on something like that, especially with a bigger muscle like that in such a short season,” Melvin said. “I know he’s disappointed … but it’s the right thing to do and hopefully my guess is he’ll only be down for the IL time.”