Injury/absence updates!
The Oakland A’s infield has been a bit thin in recent days, but the familiar names are on the way back.
The A’s activated shortstop Elvis Andrus from the paternity list Tuesday morning. Players may sit out up to three days for paternity leave, and for Andrus that meant Saturday through Monday.
To make room on the active roster, infielder Vimael Machin was optioned back down to Triple-A Las Vegas. He came up to replace Andrus on Saturday and played all three games while Andrus was out, batting ninth and playing shortstop each time. Machin went 2-for-7 with a pair of singles, a walk, and three strikeouts, and also made an error on defense.
Andrus rejoins Jed Lowrie, Tony Kemp, and the recently acquired Josh Harrison as the A’s primary middle infield options, and one more name should be back in the fold too.
Super-sub Chad Pinder went on the 10-day injured list in early July with a strained right hamstring, which so far has cost him six weeks while the team has played 31 games without him. Fortunately he’s made progress in his recovery and his latest news is good, as he began a minor league rehab assignment on Sunday with Triple-A Las Vegas. In his first game he went 1-for-5 with a double and a walk, and then Monday he went 1-for-3 with a homer (off former A’s farmhand Logan Verrett).
As for when Pinder might return to Oakland, the hopeful plan is for his rehab assignment to last around five games, reported Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News last Friday. If that holds true then he’d spend the rest of this week in the minors, with an eye toward the weekend or next week.
Here’s the updated injury/absence report:
- RHP Trevor Rosenthal, OUT FOR YEAR, entire body (thoracic outlet, hip labrum)
- RHP Mike Fiers, 60-day IL, elbow (no structural damage; shut down for July)
- UT Chad Pinder, 10-day IL, hamstring (began AAA rehab 8/15)
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SSElvis Andrus, BACK IN ACTION, paternity (missed Sat-Mon; activated Tue)