The Oakland A’s called up reliever Ryan Dull, the team announced Monday. To make room on the roster, starter Frankie Montas was optioned back down to Triple-A Nashville.
There’s not much to read into this news other than a matter of scheduling. The A’s have off-days coming up after each of their next three series, which means they won’t need their fifth starter for quite a while — possibly as long as Aug. 14, a full two weeks from now. See below for an illustration of how that could work out.
With a temporary four-man rotation, there’s no reason to keep Montas on the bench.