Athletics' Mitch Spence: Drawing Cactus League start Monday

Spence, a Rule 5 pick this winter, will start Monday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks in place of Ross Stripling (finger), MLB.com reports.

The right-hander, who logged 39 starts over the last two minor-league seasons with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Yankees organization, will be evaluated in game action sooner than expected thanks to the cut on Stripling's right index finger. Spence posted an 11-10 mark with a 4.26 ERA and 1.31 WHIP across the 215.1 innings covering the aforementioned sample, but his best chance of sticking on the Athletics' roster is likely as a reliever.