Oakland Athletics: Rookie Daniel Mengden Off to Hot Start
By Tj Porreca
Much of the talk regarding the Oakland Athletics pitching staff this season has been centered on Sonny Gray and Rich Hill for various reasons. But Oakland has a rookie who is proving he belongs in the Major Leagues.
On July 23, 2015, the Oakland Athletics traded left hander Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros. Houston was in the midst of a pennant race at the time, but now that the deal has had time to play out, it looks great for the A’s.
In return for Kazmir, the A’s got catcher Jacob Nottingham — who was later traded to Milwaukee in the package that brought the A’s Khris Davis — and pitcher Daniel Mengden. The Astros selected Mengden in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, but it’s now the A’s who are seeing Mengden produce in the Major Leagues.
Mengden made his Major League debut on June 11, in Cincinnati against the Reds. He threw 5.2 innings, and struck out five, while surrendering four walks. The A’s lost that game 2-1, and it was the beginning of a slight trend for Oakland’s offense. Mengden’s next outing against the Texas Rangers was impressive. He threw 6.1 innings, giving up just one earned run. He struck out seven, but the A’s lost 5-1.
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Mengden’s third outing came on June 22 against the Brewers, when he threw 6 innings. He gave up three earned runs, but also had a career-high nine strikeouts. The A’s got him more run support than his previous two starts, but nevertheless Oakland lost 5-2.
Through three starts, it was apparent that Mengden could pitch in the Major Leagues, and wasn’t going to shy away from a challenge. It was also apparent that Oakland’s offense was struggling to produce runs on days Mengden pitched. Through the first three games he started, Oakland scored a total of four runs. Needless to say, Mengden was pitching better than his 0-3 record suggested.
On Monday, Mengden toed the rubber against the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants. Mengden threw a career-high 7.2 innings, giving up just two runs on four hits. He struck out five, in a performance that prompted Brandon Belt to suggest Mengden, “Kind of kicked [the Giants’] butts.” Oakland’s offense broke out and put up eight runs, awarding Mengden with his first Major League win.
In his four starts, Mengden has a collective ERA of 2.81, with a WHiP of 1.16, and a FIP of 3.81.
Mengden’s emergence may seem like a surprise, and in a way it is, even to himself. Mengden told MLB.com on Monday that he hoped to reach Triple-A Nashville by the middle of the 2016 season, and eventually earn a call-up to the A’s when rosters expand in September. Coming into this season, MLB.com rated Mengden 13th on Oakland’s top 30 prospect list. That suggests that perhaps Mengden wasn’t on the national radar prior to the season, but now that he’s in the Athletics rotation, he’s making the most of his opportunities.
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While four starts is a small sample size, Mengden is proving to be a starter the A’s can rely on. In a year where most of the dialogue is whether Rich Hill and/or Sonny Gray will get traded, Mendgen has come aboard and given the A’s a chance to win in each of his starts. If he maintains this level of performance throughout the rest of this season, he’ll likely be a key piece of the Athletics’ rotation in 2017, and beyond.