The Oakland Athletics have called up catching prospect Derek Norris, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Norris will be making his major league debut today for the A’s when they take on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The A’s made a few moves before today’s games, calling up Norris and activating left-hander Jordan Norberto from the disabled list. In corresponding roster moves, Oakland optioned Josh Donaldson and Pedro Figueroa to the minors.
The A’s acquired Norris, along with A.J. Cole, Tommy Milone and Brad Peacock, from the Washington Nationals in Gio Gonzalez trade. Slusser reports that the 23-year-old’s promotion comes as a bit of a surprise as the A’s initially discussed keeping Norris at Triple-A for a full season.
On the year, Norris hit at a clip of .273/.331/.474 with eight home runs, 14 doubles and 36 RBIs for Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate. Over his six seasons in the minors, Norris owns a career line of .252/.395/.460.
Slusser still expects A’s veteran backstop Kurt Suzuki to receive a bulk of the team’s starts at catcher, though she admits he could potentially become a trade chip this summer.