Today's A's game is already over, but I'm currently watching the archived game at MLB.tv, and I've just seen the part where Bartolo Colon hurt himself fielding a bunt (and throwing it away into foul territory), so I'm now watching Pedro Figueroa, who was just called back up to the A's bullpen, replacing Tyson Ross on the roster.

Figueroa's been in the minors since May 22nd, when he was optioned to Sacramento in favor of Graham Godfrey. Overall, Figueroa has pitched well in the minors (striking out over a quarter of his batters faced while walking fewer than seven percent) and terribly in the majors (basically reverse his minor-league walk and strikeout rates). He was stretched out, in a sense, in this latest trip to the minors, throwing five two-inning stints in seven appearances, though he never threw more than 40 pitches, in part because he frequently pitched well. In the current incarnation of the A's bullpen, he's probably a long man (as we saw today) / low-leverage pitcher.

I speculated that the A's might keep Tyson Ross around in the bullpen after he made his spot start, but he'd need days off after said start, and it appears that the team would rather have him continue to work as a starter in the minors rather than stay in the majors, so he spent 24 hours in Oakland despite a solid start (six innings, two runs, just one hit allowed, but four walks) that saw him get multiple whiffs with nasty sliders against lefties.

Evan Scribner is the victim of the roster rules that say that you can't call someone up from the minors within ten days of being sent down unless they are replacing an injured player. Scribner threw 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts for Oakland, including a three-inning "save" on Friday, the 15th, just ahead of being promoted. PECOTA actually likes Scribner, projecting an ERA under 3.50 for the rest of the season, though there's not really anything to compare him to as far as Figueroa goes -- given the lack of data on the lefty (because of his missed 2011), his projection should be given even wider leeway than usual.

The completely optional move made at the same time saw Adam Rosales sent back to Sacramento for Eric Sogard. Sticking with PECOTA, they're basically the same hitter, though they profile a tad differently (Sogard is a little more OBP-oriented while Rosales has a skosh more power). One interesting aspect of the move is that Bob Melvin used Rosales as his backup first baseman, while Sogard (unsurprisingly, given his height) has never played the position in the professional ball. The move presumably leaves Josh Donaldson, who's played a tiny amount of first, including three innings this season, as the backup at the spot.