Place RHP Blackburn on Injured List; Designate INF/DH Lowrie for Assignment
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics recalled left-handed pitcher JP Sears and selected outfielder Cal Stevenson from Triple-A Las Vegas, the club announced today. The A’s also placed right-handed pitcher Paul Blackburn on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Aug. 5 with an inflamed right middle finger and designated infielder/designated hitter Jed Lowrie for assignment.
Sears was acquired from the New York Yankees on Aug. 1 with Luis Medina and minor leaguers Cooper Bowman and Ken Waldichuk for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino. He made his Major League debut with the Yankees this year and is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA and .184 opponents batting average in seven games, including two starts, over five stints. The 26-year-old left-hander is a combined 1-1 with a 1.70 ERA, .163 opponents batting average and .438 OPS in 12 games, including 10 starts, with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Triple-A Las Vegas. Sears has the lowest opponents on-base percentage (.200) and OPS among minor league pitchers with 40 or more innings.
Stevenson was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays with Christian Fernandez on July 9 for Christian Bethancourt and is batting a combined .275 with five home runs, 25 RBI, 15 stolen bases and a .387 on-base percentage in 73 games with Triple-A Durham and Las Vegas. Born in Fremont and a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School, Stevenson attended Chabot JC and the University of Arizona before being selected by Toronto in the 10th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter is a .292 hitter with 21 home runs and 156 RBI in 337 games in four seasons in the minors and has 231 walks for a .407 on-base percentage.
Blackburn is 7-6 with a 4.28 ERA and .255 opponents batting average in 21 starts with Oakland. The A’s All-Star began the year 6-2 with a 2.26 ERA, .616 OPS and three home runs allowed over his first 13 starts but is 1-4 with a 7.94 ERA, .973 opponents OPS and 12 home runs allowed over his last eight starts dating back to June 22. He has left with the lead in five of his eight no decisions only to have the bullpen blow the save.
Lowrie hit .180 with three home runs and 16 RBI in 50 games in his seventh season with the A’s and the 14th of his career. He was on the injured list from June 27 to Aug. 1 and has made 37 of his 42 starts this year at designated hitter. The 38-year-old switch-hitter batted .262 with 205 doubles, 77 home runs and 405 RBI in 876 career games with the A’s. His double on Saturday tied him with Terry Steinbach for seventh on the Oakland career doubles list and his games played are third most by an Athletic this century behind Mark Ellis and Eric Chavez. Lowrie is a .257 hitter with 292 doubles, 121 home runs and 594 RBI in 1307 games in his career, which has also featured stops in Boston (2008-11), Houston (2012, 2015) and New York-NL (2019).
