Oakland Athletics bring up veteran Barry Zito from Triple-A Nashville

The 40-year-old Hudson already has announced this season is his last, so he and Zito could face off next week and head into retirement together.

The A’s called up Zito Wednesday was called up by Oakland Wednesday with the A’s facing a shortage of pitching.

UPDATE: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting the A’s don’t plan to use Zito as a starter, per assistant general manager David Forst.

Zito went 8-7 with a 3.46 ERA in 24 games, 22 as a starter. The A’s – with their shared history and his popularity in the Bay Area – offered Zito the best chance to return to the big leagues.

“It would be some kind of storybook ending for both of our careers, for sure”, said Hudson, who texted Zito before his final Triple-A appearance.

This is becoming a great story for the Athletics, and it might even get more people to O.co Coliseum as the season winds down.

Zito started his career with Oakland in 2000 after being drafted in the first round of the 1999 draft.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported earlier today that the Athletics “will try to figure out how to make a start against [Tim] Hudson happen”, but ESPN Insider Buster Olney can be credited with fueling the initial speculation. Plus, the team is nearly eliminated from the playoffs, so they might as well give Zito a shot.

The A’s, with the worst record in the American League, play the San Francisco Giants next week.

Zito won the 2002 AL Cy Young with Oakland and went 102-63 with a 3.53 ERA over seven seasons with the A’s before leaving as a free agent to sign with the Giants in December 2006. Once his contract expired, Zito took the 2014 season off before re-signing with the A’s in 2015 on a minor-league deal.

Martin will start Wednesday’s game in Chicago. Though he helped win a World Series in 2012, the southpaw failed to recreate the same success in his new home, managing a mediocre 4.62 ERA during his tenure there.