A’s trade Irvin to Orioles, receive prospect Hernaiz originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Athletics have opened up a spot in their 2023 starting rotation.
The A’s officially traded left-handed pitcher Cole Irvin and right-handed prospect Kyle Virbitsky to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for shortstop prospect Darell Hernaiz on Thursday.
Hernaiz is listed as the Orioles’ 16th-best prospect via MLB.com. A fifth-round pick by Baltimore in 2019, Hernaiz batted .273/.341/.438 with 21 doubles and 12 home runs last season across three levels — Single-A (32 games), High-A (60 games) and Double-A (13 games).
Irvin has been an innings-eater for Oakland the past two seasons, logging 359 1/3 frames since arriving with the A’s in 2021.
Last season, Irvin registered a 9-13 record, 3.98 ERA and 4.21 FIP over 30 starts. He whiffed just 128 batters in 181 innings and walked 36.
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Virbitsky, 24, has yet to advance past High-A ball in his career. He posted a 4.63 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings for the Single-A Stockton Ports and High-A Lansing Lugnuts last season.
With Irvin off the roster, the A’s will look to Paul Blackburn, James Kaprielian, Daulton Jefferies, Adam Oller, Ken Waldichuk and Shintaro Fujinami, among others, to fill their rotation.