Brandon

Bielak

Bielak gets the boot from the roster to make room for Joe Boyle. The 28-year-old will hit the waiver wire, but it’s unlikely a team will put a claim in on the right-hander this late in the year.

Bielak will add bullpen depth for the A’s for the final three weeks. The Athletics optioned Brady Brasso to make room for Bielak on the roster.

It’s a tad surprising there wasn’t a suitor out there for Bielak, who has been a durable innings-eater at the major-league level the last few seasons. The 28-year-old righty will presumably stick around with Oakland as extra organizational depth.

Bielak was acquired earlier this month from the division-rival Astros in a small trade and winds up only making three relief appearances for the Athletics. The 28-year-old figures to generate some interest on waivers in the coming days.

Bielak was designated for assignment last week and will now find a new home in Oakland. It’s a good landing spot for him in terms of innings, and he should help Oakland since he has a solid 4.65 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and 155/85 K/BB ratio across 191 2/3 innings (70 appearances, 21 starts) since 2020. Given that the Athletic’s rotation is banged up, it might not be a surprise to see them try to stretch Bielak out to start again. However, he remains off the fantasy radar.

No real surprise here as Bielak doesn’t really seem to have a role with the Astros moving forward besides pitching in mop-up situations. The 28-year-old righty has made 10 relief appearances this season in the big leagues and holds a serviceable career 4.65 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 155/85 K/BB ratio across 191 2/3 innings (70 appearances, 21 starts) since 2020.

The right-hander punched out three batters on the night while issuing one base on balls. He served up a leadoff homer to Vidal Brujan in the opening inning, then kept the Marlins’ offense at bay except for an unearned run later in the inning. His three strikeouts in the ballgame came via Harrison Spohn, Dane Myers and Tristan Gray. Bielak has had a rough spring overall, posting a 5.56 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and an 8/5 K/BB ratio across 11 1/3 innings in six appearances.

It’s not a big surprise after the Astros leaned on him for 5 1/3 innings of relief on Thursday. Ronel Blanco is expected to join the team on Friday.

Martinez was just recalled on Monday and threw 43 pitches across two outings, allowing one run in 2 1/3 innings. However, the 28-year-old still carries a 5.23 ERA in 43 innings this season and will continue to serve as organizational bullpen depth. Brandon Bielak was called up to take his place.

Bielak has a 3.72 ERA in 14 starts for Houston this season but only has five “quality” starts on the season. Two of them came against the Rockies, one against the Athletics, and one against the White Sox, so he has been the beneficiary of a soft schedule. The Astros are already using a six-man rotation, so it’s more likely that Bielak will serve as a bulk reliever to close the season.