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August 2, 2012

The Call-Up

Dan Straily

by Kevin Goldstein

The situation: The A's could wait no longer. Despite having the best team ERA in the American League and an already-adept rotation, the team called up the breakout prospect of the year in Dan Straily, who leads the minor leagues in strikeouts (175). He's expected to make his big league debut Friday, starting against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Background: A 24th-round pick in 2009 out of Marshall University, Straily entered the year seen as little more than a solid organizational pitcher. He put together solid yet unspectacular showings with a 4.32 ERA at low Class A Kane County in 2010, and a 3.87 ERA last year at high Class A Stockton, with 154 strikeouts in 160⅔ innings. He struck out seven batters in 4⅔ shutout innings in his season debut for Double-A Midland in April, and the dominance simply never stopped. The right-handed hurler recorded four double-digit-strikeout games for Midland, including a 15-K performance against Corpus Christi, and actually got better following a promotion to the offense-oriented Pacific Coast League, putting up a 1.38 ERA in eight starts. He struck out 67 batters over 53 innings at Triple-A, allowing just 27 hits for an opponents' batting average of .149.