Austin

Wynns

Wynns had to know he was losing his spot when the A’s acquired Jonah Heim, but he stuck around for a few extra days with Shea Langeliers going on the paternity list. Now that Langeliers is back, Wynns is gone. The 35-year-old was off to a 3-for-39 start at the plate this year, giving him a .077/.143/.077 line.

Langeliers launches two homers on his wife’s birthday on Saturday before she gave birth to their first child on Sunday morning. The 28-year-old slugging backstop is going to take some time away from the club to be with his family for the next couple days while Austin Wynns and newly acquired Jonah Heim handle the catching duties.

The Athletics are undoubtedly very familiar with Heim’s work since he began his career with the club before becoming the starting backstop for the division-rival Rangers. The 30-year-old heads out to West Sacramento after being removed from Atlanta’s 40-man roster earlier on Monday. He’ll provide the Athletics with some additional depth behind Austin Wynns while Shea Langeliers is away on paternity leave for a couple days this week.

He hasn’t played since being removed from Tuesday’s game in what Mark Kotsay said was “precautionary.” Colby Thomas is batting cleanup against LHP Noah Cameron. Brent Rooker (0-for-13 since returning from an oblique injury) is also sitting today, giving Shea Langeliers a DH day while Austin Wynns draws a start.

Langeliers gets a rare off-day against LHP Ryan Weathers. Austin Wynns will draw the start for the Athletics and bat seventh. Langeliers is off to a .289/.333/.644 start in 11 games, and is tied with three other players for the MLB lead with five homers.

It’s just a routine day off with a day game after a night game, but it will come with Chris Sale on the mound, which isn’t a terrible thing. Lawrence Butler will also get a day off, although his is a bit more platoon-based. Andy Ibanez will start at first base, and Austin Wynns will enter the lineup at catcher with Shea Langeliers moving to DH.

This wouldn’t be as notable if not for the fact that Butler also didn’t get the start Saturday, and he underwent offseason surgery to repair a partial tredion tear and debridement of chronic scar tissue in his knee. It’s feasible this is injury-related, but there’s no word as of yet. Brent Rooker is the right fielder for Sunday’s bout, with Shea Langeliers the designated hitter and Austin Wynns getting the start at catcher.

Wynns will enter next season as the primary backup to starter Shea Langeliers after Willie MacIver was claimed off waivers by the Rangers earlier this week. The 34-year-old journeyman backstop was acquired from the Reds back in June as an emergency stopgap option and went on to post a robust 44.4 percent hard hit rate across 22 games before suffering a season-ending abdominal strain.

The 34-year-old backstop landed on the injured list last week with an abdominal strain. It now appears that it’s a serious enough issue to cost him the remainder of the season, so they’ll move him to the 60-day IL to free up a spot on their active roster. Wynns finishes the season hitting a solid .291/.321/.544 with six homers and 21 RBI in 110 plate appearances between the A’s and Reds.

Wynns, who opened the year with Cincinnati, is hitting .222/.242/.444 in 22 games with the A’s. Willie MacIver will step in as the backup to Shea Langeliers.