After more than a month of being stashed and slighted at AAA, the A’s are finally giving Daniel Mengden his chance to prove he belongs in the major league rotation. Today, he threw 7 innings, struck out 5 batters, allowed five baserunners, gave up one run, and quieted all his doubters.
Though I’m putting a lot of stock into this one outing, after an admittedly bad one, it’s because it just seems to me that Mengden has been manipulated long enough by the organization. He’s posted solid number across the past two years — more than Aaron Brooks or Marco Estrada could say — and came into the year with a chance to be the A’s third or fourth-best starter.