Detroit, MI – The Oakland Athletics have decided to keep 12 pitchers on their 25-man roster for the American League Division Series against Detroit, including a heartbroken Pat Neshek.
Neshek will pitch for the Athletics out of the bullpen just days after the sudden death of his infant son. Gehrig John was born earlier this week and was just a day old when he stopped breathing.
An autopsy has been scheduled.
The remainder of Oakland's pitching staff for the best-of-five series will include Jarrod Parker and Tommy Milone -- the starters for the first two games -- as well as fellow starters A.J. Griffin, Travis Blackley and Brett Anderson, closer Grant Balfour, Jerry Blevins, Ryan Cook, Sean Doolittle, Pedro Figueroa and Evan Scribner.
There are no major surprises among the position players. Brandon Moss, Chris Carter, Cliff Pennington, Stephen Drew, Josh Donaldson and Adam Rosales are the infielders, while Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes are the outfielders. Derek Norris and George Kottaras are the only catchers.
Teams can replace injured players during a series, but that player must sit out the following series if the team advances.
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