3 years agoThe Oakland Athletics plan to use left-hander A.J. Puk out of the bullpen to open the regular season. Puk was expected to compete for a spot in the back end of the A's starting rotation this spring, but with the team holding onto Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea for now, Puk will instead open in a relief role. The talented 26-year-old hasn't been able to stay healthy and has made all 22 of his MLB appearances in two seasons in relief so far, posting a 4.74 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 29 strikeouts and 11 walks in 24 2/3 innings. Oakland is likely to utilize Puk in a multi-inning relief role, and although he won't be in the mix for saves, he could be useful for his K's in deep AL-only leagues. There's also a good chance that Puk will eventually enter the rotation if the A's trade one or both of Montas/Manaea by the trade deadline.--Keith Hernandez - RotoBaller
Source: San Francisco Chronicle - Matt Kawahara