Oakland A’s activate Sean Doolittle, place Andrew Triggs on DL

The Oakland A’s shuffled their disabled list on Saturday, the team announced. Lefty reliever Sean Doolittle was activated, and righty starter Andrew Triggs was placed on the 10-day DL with a strained left hip.

In addition, the A’s get to add a 26th man on Saturday because of the scheduled doubleheader against Tampa Bay. Oakland recalled 1B/OF Matt Olson from Triple-A Nashville to take that spot, though he (or someone) will have to be sent back down at the end of the day.

Let’s begin with Doolittle, who last pitched in the bigs on April 29. He was on the DL with a shoulder issue for the third straight season, which seemed ominous at the time and was especially disappointing since he was off to a great start both physically and statistically. But what originally looked like it “[might not] be a quick thing” (in the words of Bob Melvin) only turned out to cost Doo a little over a month, and now he’s back after three sharp, scoreless minor league rehab outings (including his part in a Triple-A no-hitter).

Doolittle, 2017: 9 games, 3.52 ERA, 7⅔ ip, 11 Ks, 1 BB, 2 HR, 3.99 FIP

Meanwhile, Triggs takes Doo’s place on the shelf, thanks to a hip. The sidearmer began the year on fire, with a 2.12 ERA through eight starts, but he came back to Earth quickly after that. He got torched over his last four outings: 9.64 ERA, 18⅓ ip, 7 HR, 32 hits. However, he’s not blaming his injury for that performance, says Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle. He’ll get an MRI (via John Hickey, Mercury News), but he and his manager both hope he’ll only miss a start or two during a minimum DL stint (via Hickey).

Triggs, 2017: 4.27 ERA, 65⅓ ip, 50 Ks, 19 BB, 9 HR, 4.39 FIP, 95 ERA+

Finally, Olson is back in Oakland for what is presumably another brief stay, four days after being sent back to Nashville from his last cup of coffee. He got into three games in Triple-A this week and went 3-for-10 with a HR, 2 BB, 2 Ks. He will start in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, says Hickey. His Triple-A numbers in 50 games:

Olson, AAA: .286/.376/.582, 15 HR, 12.8% BB, 25.7% Ks, 147 wRC+

This is the 17th time the A’s have used the DL this year, and the 12th since Opening Day. Here’s the updated roster (Olson in italics as temporary 26th man):

10-day DL: RHP Kendall Graveman, RHP Andrew Triggs, RHP Ryan Dull, RHP Bobby Wahl

60-day DL: RHP Chris Bassitt, SS Marcus Semien, OF Jake Smolinski

(Note: C Bruce Maxwell and RHP Raul Alcantara are not listed, but they are on the minor league DL.)