A’s roster moves: Clarke and Muncy to IL, Thomas and Cortes recalled

Making the move official

The A’s on Tuesday afternoon announced a pair of roster moves that were fully expected, placing slick-fielding center fielder Denzel Clarke on the IL with a right adductor strain and infielder Max Muncy on the IL with a hand injury:

Taking their places on the active roster will be outfielders Colby Thomas and Carlos Cortes, both of whom are rookies.

The injury to Clarke occurred on Sunday in the finale against the Guardians when he departed that game with what was called at the time a right hip injury. Clarke ended up traveling with the team to Texas, where he got his MRI that showed the strain. He’ll now be on the shelf for the next couple of weeks at best.

Clarke’s first taste of the big leagues has been a mixed bag. The 25-year old has proven to be everything and more with the glove in center field, constantly making highlight reel catches and making his pitcher’s lives easier. His bat however has shown a lot to be desired. In 47 games he’s slashing just .230/.274/.372 with three home runs. He’s been a plus on the base paths with six stolen bases already with no caught stealing. He’s held his own in the batter’s box as a rookie but if he can improve as a hitter then the A’s could have a potential All-Star center fielder on their hands.

Manager Mark Kotsay has already said that he expects Clarke to be on the shelf for at least a couple weeks, and it could be longer if the team wants to take it carefully with one of the top prospects in the organization. In the meantime, the club seems likely to slide right fielder Lawrence Butler over to center field, at least on a part-time basis. He made a fantastic catch in center last night so the drop off on defense in center could be minimal.

Muncy’s placement on the IL comes after he was hit on the right hand by a pitch last night. He was ultimately pulled from the game for Gio Urshela. After the game Kotsay indicated that the hand injury wasn’t too serious, saying that an MRI didn’t show a break but swelling would determine the severity. He’ll now join Clarke on the IL but he seems to have dodged a bigger bullet for now. Muncy has had some tough struggles in his rookie season and is slashing just .215/.258/.385 with nine long balls in 59 games. Expect to see more of Urshela and Miguel Andujar handling the hot corner in Muncy’s absence.

Taking Clarke’s place on the active roster will be outfielder Colby Thomas, one of the top prospects in the entire organization. Thomas already got his feet wet in the majors earlier this year but went just 1-for-11 in his brief time with the A’s. This time he could be around for a lot longer, depending on Clarke’s timeline.

Joining Thomas on the roster will be rookie Carlos Cortes, whose contract was selected earlier this week but will now join the active roster. Cortes has yet to make his big league debut but has pushed hard this season, slashing a fantastic .322/.414/.603 with 17 home runs for the Aviators. Cortes will provide a left-handed hitter off the bench that has some pop in his bat.

Additionally, the club announced that catcher Jhonny Pereda was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins, ending his short tenure with the organization:

The 29-year-old struggled in his brief time with the big league club, hitting just .175/.283/.225 with no homers in 19 games played. He’s done much better down in Triple-A with the Aviators, hitting a much-improved .319/.400/.440 with a pair of bombs. This’ll hurt the overall catching depth the Athletics have in the upper minors but Pereda wasn’t much more than a backup at the big league level, and there is still former 1st-round pick Daniel Susac playing with the Aviators, as well as fellow backup Willie MacIver.