A's Reinstate Paul Blackburn, DFA Jesús Aguilar

Paul Blackburn has completed his rehab stint and is set to take the mound against Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, and the Atlanta Braves on Monday. The team announced today that Blackburn has been reinstated to the A's 26-man roster, and that they have also called up Jonah Bride. To make room on the roster, veteran first baseman Jesús Aguilar has been designated for assignment, and reliever Garrett Acton has been optioned back to Triple-A.

Blackburn began the season on the IL with a nail avulsion that has plagued him for the season's first two months. He has made three starts with Las Vegas this month, and in his most recent outing he went five innings, gave up five hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out five. 

He said on Saturday that he's not preparing any differently for this start, even with familiar faces in the Atlanta dugout. "Played with Olson, played with Murph last year. Those two guys I've seen take a lot of at-bats. I think that kinda works a little bit in my favor." 

He also said that there could be some bragging rights on the line against his former teammates. "Maybe a little bit" he said with a smirk. "Yeah, there'll be a little bit. Just friendly banter." 

Jesús Aguilar had been relegated to mostly facing left-handed pitchers with the A's, and while he excelled in that role, he just wasn't seeing a lot of playing time. He hit .280 with a .382 on-base versus southpaws, good for a 144 wRC+, which is 44% above league average. He could find a nice role on a contending team. 

Rule 5 draftee Ryan Noda stands to become the A's everyday first baseman with Seth Brown also potentially available to play the position. Noda hasn't been quite as superb against lefties as Aguilar, but his 113 wRC+ is still well above league average. Couple that with a 150 wRC+ against righties, and the A's may have a building block in Noda, and Aguilar's departure allows the team to better gauge exactly what they have with the rookie. 

Jonah Bride has been an extra-base machine in the month of May, clubbing 14 doubles and four homers while batting .397 with a .484 OBP. Bride has 16 doubles on the season in 43 games played. His career high is 18 doubles back in 2019 over the course of 117 games. 

Garrett Acton returns to Las Vegas after making his big-league debut. He appeared in six games, tossing 5.2 innings, and racked up a 12.71 ERA. His last two outings, both against Houston, weren't great. He didn't record an out on Saturday, allowing four runs, and then allowed another three in his inning of work on Sunday. 

Acton had a 1.93 ERA over his first four appearances.