A’s injuries: Frankie Montas will start Thursday

The Oakland A’s are getting one of their stars back in action this week.

The team announced that pitcher Frankie Montas will start on Thursday. The A’s are playing a doubleheader against the Tigers at the Coliseum, and Montas will start the second game.

Montas was hurt on July 3, exiting his appearance early that day with shoulder inflammation. Since then he skipped two starts and got a few extra days of rest during the All-Star break. He never went on the injured list, so his return will not require any transactions.

This was the expected timeline for Montas’ comeback. One week ago, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the right-hander would wait until the day after the All-Star break to return, and that’s exactly what ended up happening. Montas threw an “aggressive” bullpen session on Friday, reported Matt Kawahara of the S.F. Chronicle, and responded “really well” to it the next day, added Kawahara.

Of course, now that he’s back, there’s still the question of how long Montas might remain in Oakland’s rotation moving forward. The trade deadline is approaching and he’s a prime candidate to be dealt by the rebuilding A’s. But that’s another story entirely, and for now the important thing is he’s healthy and ready to play again. Click here for thoughts about Montas and the trade deadline.

With Montas starting the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday, Oakland also announced that rookie Zach Logue will start the first game that day. Logue is not currently on the active roster, which means the A’s will call him up from Triple-A to make this appearance, likely as the bonus 27th player that teams are allowed to bring up for doubleheaders.

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Two other updates from earlier this week, regarding players who are on the injured list.

Reliever Dany Jimenez (shoulder) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today, reported Kawahara. No word yet on when he might begin a rehab assignment.

Infielder Jonah Bride (shoulder) began a Triple-A rehab assignment last week and has played four games, batting 4-for-10 with a homer, double, five walks, and three strikeouts. He’ll be in Oakland tomorrow but it’s not yet decided whether he’ll be activated from the injured list yet or head back to Las Vegas for more rehab games, reported Kawahara.