Left-handed Starting pitcher Ken Waldichuk is not the only Oakland A’s player making his Major League debut Thursday at Nationals Park.
Cody Thomas, a 13th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, will hit seventh and play left field as the A’s close a three-game series with the Washington Nationals.
To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the A’s designated right-handed pitcher David McKay for assignment. MLB rosters expanded to 28 players Thursday, with teams allowed to add one pitcher and one position player.
It’s been an adventure for Thomas, 27, just to get to this point.
After three-plus years in the Dodgers’ system, rising to Double-A in 2019, Thomas missed the entire 2020 season due to the pandemic and parts of the last two seasons with an Achilles injury, which led to surgery on his right Achilles tendon in February.
“He’s worked tremendously hard this year to get back on the field from his Achilles injury,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before Thursday’s game. “That really was unfortunate end of the season and with the lockout, the inability to get him in and get treatment and take care of it, it impacted the start of this year and all the way until now.
“For us to get a look at Cody, have him here around our staff — we didn’t get that chance in spring training — and I think that was important for us to be able to evaluate him and build maybe a little bit of a relationship.”
Thomas his 18 home runs with a 1.028 OPS in 59 games in Las Vegas last year. He can play all three outfield spots, adding to his versatility and to his chances of sticking around the big club for a while.
“So there’s value there, and there’s value in the slug in the bat,” Kotsay said of Thomas.
Thomas began a rehab assignment at the A’s Arizona Complex League affiliate on Aug. 8 and 15 days later, was reinstated from the injured list and assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
With the Aviators this season, Thomas batted a combined .226 with three doubles, a home run, and seven RBI in 10 games overall. Thomas originally came to the A’s in a Feb. 2021 trade.
Thomas, at 6-foot-4 and 211 pounds, played two seasons of baseball at Oklahoma in 2014 and 2016, and was also a quarterback on the Sooners football team in 2014 and 2015.
Waldichuk, at 6-4 and 220 pounds, was acquired from the New York Yankees on Aug. 1 with Luis Medina, JP Sears and minor leaguer Cooper Bowman for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino. This season, between Double-A and Triple-A, Waldichuk, a Saint Mary’s College product, struck out 137 in 95.0 innings.
Waldichuk is the fifth Saint Mary’s player to see action in the big leagues this season, joining Kyle Barraclough (Los Angeles Angels), Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee), Tony Gonsolin (Los Angles Dodgers) and Patrick Wisdom (Chicago Cubs).
The A’s have now had 16 players make their MLB debuts this season, with five of those players in today’s lineup, including Cal Stevenson, Shea Langeliers, and Nick Allen.
“Most often when they get here, I throw him in the fire,” Kotsay said. “I remember my call-up, getting thrown in there the very first game, the excitement, the energy, the nerves as well. So it’s been fun to watch the success that they’ve had, their moments (in which) they’ve accomplished some great things.
“We’re going to continue to do that, with two guys today making their Major League debuts.”
After Thursday, the A’s start a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Sears is set to pitch Friday, but the A’s won’t finalize who they’ll pitch Saturday and Sunday until after today’s game, as how long Waldichuk lasts will influence who goes over the weekend.