Call to the pen
Fansided

Oakland Athletics Tab Santiago Casilla to Close Out Game One

By Jason Burke

Apr 3, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Santiago Casilla (46) and catcher Stephen Vogt (21) celebrate after the end of the game at Oakland Coliseum the Athletics won 4 to 2. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Santiago Casilla (46) and catcher Stephen Vogt (21) celebrate after the end of the game at Oakland Coliseum the Athletics won 4 to 2. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Oakland Athletics have four pitchers with closing experience on their roster, but it was a castoff from across the Bay that sealed their first win of the season on Monday.

On Sunday in Arizona the San Francisco Giants sent in their big free agent signing in the ninth inning with a one run lead. Mark Melancon ultimately ended up blowing the save and giving Giants fans visions of 2016 all over again. Yesterday, their former closer Santiago Casilla needed 15 pitches to seal the victory for his new club.

The Oakland Athletics didn’t need to add Santiago Casilla for the 2017 season. They’re a rebuilding team that many have picked to finish either last or pretty darn close to it. They signed the 36-year-old reliever anyway, giving the club an under-the-radar bullpen to pair with their under-the-radar rotation.

With Ryan Madson, John Axford and Sean Doolittle also in the bullpen, who ultimately ends up closing for Oakland this season may end up coming down to the game situation and who is available. Three of the four relievers are right-handers, leaving Doolittle as the lone southpaw option. With Monday being the first game of the regular season and everyone on full rest, Doolittle and Madson combined to work the eighth while Casilla handled the ninth.

More from Call to the Pen

The lefty took care of Yunel Escobar and Kole Calhoun of the visiting Angels and was lifted in favor of Madson to face Mike Trout, who doubled. After intentionally walking Albert Pujols, Madson got C.J. Cron to ground into a force out.

The Angels tossed out an extremely right-handed lineup on Monday night with Calhoun and a clean shaven Anderson Espinosa as the only left-handed options. Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Melvin said of how the bullpen played out after the game:

"“It was all matchups.” -Bob Melvin"

Axford will likely be more of a middle inning option along with Ryan Dull in close games.  With such volatility in the closer’s role it’ll be hard to rely on any of the A’s relievers as fantasy baseball producers. But from an actual baseball perspective, the Oakland Athletics have a very nice problem on their hands.

Also of note: Khris Davis started off his 2017 with a bang (or two) blasting off twice against Angels’ pitching and tying Rougned Odor, Yasmani Grandal and Madison Bumgarner atop the home run leaderboards.

Kendall Graveman got the start for the A’s and went six innings, allowed six hits and two walks while striking out seven. He also gave up two earned on a Mike Trout homer. The ballpark (or TV?) radar gun may have been juiced a bit, perhaps because Jose Canseco was in the building, because the readings were saying Graveman was hitting 97 miles per hour consistently.

Next: 3 Superstars That Could Be Dealt This Season

According to FanGraphs, he averaged 92.7 with his heater last season. It could be that Graveman has a little extra adrenaline in his system for the Opening Night start, but if this power surge continues (along with the results) Graveman could be a sleeper in fantasy baseball and could legitimately help the A’s make a run this season. It’s the first day of baseball, and yes, I’m excited.

Home/Oakland Athletics