The Athletics are taking a shot on right-hander Chris Roycroft, who has a couple of data points that make him an interesting add.
Ahead of Tuesday's game against the Minnesota Twins, the Athletics announced that they had claimed right-hander Chris Roycroft from the Tampa Bay Rays. To make room for Roycroft on the 40-man roster, the club moved shortstop Jacob Wilson to the 60-day IL, officially ending his season.
Roycroft, 29, gets great extension off the mound, which helps his 95.7 mph heater play up a little bit. His fastball velocity ranks in the 70th percentile this season, while his extension ranks in the 90th.
Across his 24 ⅔ innings of work out of the bullpen this season, his 56.5% ground ball rate has ranked among the best in baseball.
The biggest drawback in his profile is that he's only run a 14.4% strikeout rate this season and three of his four offerings have both batting averages and expected batting averages above .300. The only exception is his four-seamer, which has a .154 batting average against (.130 xBA) that he throws 19.5% of the time.
His sinker is his most-used pitch at 52.3%, and it has a batting average against of .349 (.308 xBA). It also has a -5-degree launch angle, so there could be a world in which a solid infield defense could gobble up those grounders. At the same time, he's allowed five homers on the pitch and used it to strike out just nine batters this year.
Perhaps the A's see a different way to utilize that pitch.
While fans groaned at the announcement of another waiver claim — and with good reason, given his 8.39 ERA this season — this is exactly what the club should be doing right now. They have some roster flexibility to work with since so many players are on the 60-day IL, meaning they can use those spots to give pitchers auditions for next season.
The leash for each of these claims will be short, as the A's can just cycle through players until they find the couple they may want to hold onto heading into the offseason.
With Roycroft, his stuff grades out as average overall while his location+ grade is above average at 104 (100 is average). Put those together with a solid ground ball rate and some top-shelf extension; give him a couple of appearances and see what happens.
The A's need to add arms to the bullpen mix for next season. The rotation may be in decent shape in 2027, but the bullpen is going to need better depth options. Perhaps Roycroft can work his way into a depth role.
