A’s demote Kaprielian, Brown as roster shrinks to 28

Thursday marked the day all MLB teams had to shrink their roster from a 30 men to 28. And when the deadline came, the Oakland A’s optioned RHP James Kaprielian and OF Seth Brown.

Kaprielian was recalled Tuesday after Jordan Weems was placed on 10-day IL. Kaprielian was looking to make his MLB debut but it will have to wait. He didn’t pitch this spring but during his time with the A’s in the minors he was 4-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 games, 16 of them starts.

Brown went 0-for-3 in three games and was a DH on Sunday in Seattle. In 2019, he made his MLB debut and appeared in 26 games. He batted .293 during 2019 but in 17 games this spring he hit .324 with 8 RBIs. Last season, the A’s outfield had multiple injuries which gave Brown his chance to shine.

A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson spoke highly of Kaprielian on Wednesday after it was announced he was expected to make his MLB debut. But the following day, the A’s had a tough time telling him he was being demoted when the 28-man roster deadline hit, Emerson said:

“In spring training this year, much improved stuff in the workouts, throwing strikes a little bit more velocity that we haven’t seen in the past. I’m really excited for him. It’s been a long time coming for him. I know he was a highly-scouted prospect and I am interested to see what we can do in ball games and it is going to be fun for him…. He went high in the draft for a reason. Hopefully the injuries are behind him and he can go out there and take the mound and relax and breathe.”

Kaprielian was a first round draft pick by the New York Yankees but injuries have delayed his MLB debut. He was the 16th overall pick in 2015 out of UCLA.

Bob Melvin on Kaprielian:

“Unfortunately, you get here to the big leagues for two days, you don’t get to pitch, to get sent don’t, that’s hard, so it was hard telling him… Kaprielian was a little bit harder in the fact that you know you just get here and you’re all excited and you can’t wait for your first game and next thing you know you’re visiting the managers office again so he’ll be back though. He has put himself in a situation where he is right on the verge of the big leagues, so we look forward to getting him back too.”

Brown wasn’t getting many at bats and was understanding on the situation according to Melvin:

“Brownie was actually understanding in the fact that he wasn’t getting in a bunch of at bats, we already have a little bit of a log jam as far as the outfield and or DH spot, so he kinda understood that. It allows him to get some at bats, were gonna need him at some point and time this year.”

Brown and Kaprielian will live to see another day in the majors, but when that will be is still unknown.

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Simone McCarthy is SFBay’s Oakland Athletics beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @SimoneMcCarthy0 on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of A’s baseball.