No, this isn’t a dream. Rich Harden is about to pitch in a real live major league baseball game.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Harden will be activated from the disabled list to start Friday night against the Diamondbacks. In turn, Graham Godfrey will move to the bullpen to pitch in long relief.
Harden has been sidelined since spring training with a strained lat muscle, but has impressed over his first two minor league rehab starts with Triple-A Sacramento. He threw 4 2/3 innings in his last start Saturday, so Godfrey could theoretically piggyback him if the A’s have him on a pitch-count Friday.
This will be Harden’s first major league start since last September 29. He posted a 5.58 ERA and 75/62 K/BB ratio over 92 innings with the Rangers last season and was subsequently left off the playoff roster. Of course, Harden was originally drafted by the A’s in 2000 and posted a 3.42 ERA over parts of six seasons with the club. His injury history speaks for itself, but the A’s could use his upside while they wait for some of their other pitchers to return from the disabled list.