Luis Severino's Season Looks to be Over

The timeline for A's starter Luis Severino has always been an open question. As he has been building up, would he have enough days in the season to make a return to the mound for the club? 

Ahead of Saturday night's game against the Texas Rangers, manager Mark Kotsay seemed to provide an answer. 

"He's not going to make the end of the season for us to have him back," Kotsay said.

The manager also noted that Severino is throwing from about 75 feet at the moment, and would still have to go through a whole spring training program in order to re-join the A's rotation. Those typically last around six weeks, and that's about how much of the season remains.

Severino has been outspoken about pitching in Sacramento in the past, and held a 4.16 ERA across 62 ⅔ innings this season, including a 5.33 ERA in five home starts. The righty also has a player option for next season for $22 million. The question this offseason will be whether he takes the guaranteed deal or hits the open market. 

After Springs threw three innings with the Stockton Ports on Friday night, he told Kotsay that he felt like a grandpa out there. 

"The outing went well," Kotsay said. "He came out of it feeling good. He's in line to throw a bullpen, and we can possibly get him back into the rotation at some point this coming week." 

Given that Springs threw 59 pitches on Friday night, he's likely in line to throw somewhere around 75-80 pitches his next outing. Facing off against the Kansas City Royals on the road next week could be a nice landing spot for him. Since he started on Friday, the earliest he'd be ready to re-join the rotation would be Wednesday. 

Springs has a team option valued at $15 million for next season. He has a 6.17 ERA this season. 

Denzel Clarke has been in Arizona this week continuing his running progression and finishing his last stage on Saturday. Kotsay believes that Clarke's rehab assignment will begin on Tuesday with Triple-A Las Vegas. 

This will be a good chance for Clarke to get some games under his belt before the end of the season, and will be a big opportunity for the A's to show off a pretty enticing trade chip this offseason. With Henry Bolte's emergence in center, Clarke's defense could fetch the A's a nice upgrade to the pitching staff. 

Jacob Wilson was hit on the hand on Friday night, but X-rays came back negative, so he is day-to-day. Kotsay said that Wilson's pinky has some swelling and stiffness, but that he would be hitting in the cage before the game to test it and see if he would be available off the bench on Saturday.