A's Option Morales, Call Up Kuhnel

0:00On April 8th, the Oakland Athletics optioned their young right-hander Louis Morales to triple-A Las Vegas this Tuesday. The 23-year-old struggled big time in his first two starts, going 0-2 with a 12.27 ERA against Toronto and Houston. Earlier this week, manager Mark Katsai pointed to Morales' shaky spring training, where he walked 14 guys in just 19 innings over 5. Outings The team as a whole has issued 58 walks in 9 games, second worst in the league behind only Houston. Katsai sees this as a reset to rebuild Morales' confidence after a rough outing Saturday with 6 walks and 8 hits allowed. He mentioned mechanical tweaks are needed, but expects the kid to bounce back strong. Morales signed with the A's in January 2023 and posted solid minor league numbers last year, 4 and 3 with a 3.14. ERA, over 9 starts. To fill the roster spot, they called up reliever Joe Kunel from Vegas, who brings major league

1:03experience from Stins with Cincinnati, Houston and Tampa Bay. With Morales' weekend start against the Mets now up in the air and no direct replacement named for the rotation, the A's are tweaking things early to. Steady the ship. From around the league, powered by AI, this is MLB News Today.