A choice between former Atlanta Braves and SF Giants considering Toro replacement

Abraham Toro missed the first two games of the series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday and Wednesday earlier this week due to right shoulder soreness, then made a one-hit appearance on Thursday where he had a double. Friday night, he was back in the starting lineup for the Oakland A’s, going 1 for 3 with a walk. After going down in the bottom of the sixth, he was replaced at third base by Tyler Nevin.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters after the game that Toro was dealing with a hamstring strain and that “it looks like a possible move to the IL. We won’t know more until Sunday, on the basis of imagery and timing for this.”

Toro was the team’s leadoff hitter for much of the 2024 season, hitting .260 with a .689 OPS. If he were to land on the IL, then Max Schuemann would likely move back to the top spot, where he was placed on days when Toro didn’t play.

The big question is which player the A’s would call up to take his place. Although Toro is a versatile player, he spent most of his time at third base this season, followed by the 17 games he played at second when Zack Gelof missed time.

The A’s have two options at Triple-A Las Vegas, and neither has made their MLB debut: Drew Lugbauer and Armando Alvarez.

Lugbauer spent last season between Double-A and Triple-A in the Atlanta Braves organization and hit .261 with a .353 OBP and 25 home runs. That said, he only appeared in 25 games in Triple-A where he hit .225 with a .276 OBP and three home runs in 89 at-bats.

This season, Lugbauer, whose swing reminds Stephen Piscotty of his former teammate Matt Olson, hit .225 with a .295 OBP and 13 home runs. Adding the lefty would give the A’s the option to move to third base in the short term with Lugbauer and Nevin.

The other option is Alvarez, 29, who spent last season in Triple-A in the San Francisco Giants organization after seven years in the Yankees farm system. This year with Las Vegas he is hitting .311 with a .401 OBP and eight home runs, which is more than enough to earn an opportunity. Alvarez was removed from last night’s Aviators game in the top of the eighth and replaced by Lugbauer in the third, which could be an indication of the direction the A’s are leaning.

The A’s roster currently stands at 38 according to Roster Resource, so a corresponding 40-man move wouldn’t be necessary to add either option. The A’s already have three players on the 60-day IL who will need a roster spot in the coming weeks (Paul Blackburn, Alex Wood and Darrel Hernaiz), but that’s a problem for later.

Another option could be to bring Nick Allen back to Oakland since he’s already on the 40-man roster and slide Schuemann to third. This would potentially keep Alvarez and Lugbauer past the trade deadline, which will be a time when the team could have more playing time to give some guys a chance, depending on what moves the team makes decides to do at the end of July.