Elephant Rumblings: Athletics finally getting healthier

Hope everyone here at Athletics Nation is having a good week so far!

The A’s have dealt with their fair share of injuries this year, from the pitching to the outfield and the infield, and the relievers haven’t been spared the injury bug either.

Starting pitchers Paul Blackburn, James Kaprielian, Adrian Martinez, Drew Rucinski, and star prospect Mason Miller have all spent various amounts of time on the injured list; Rucinski is even done for the season after just a few starts, and his career going forward is in jeopardy.

Relievers Zach Jackson and Dany Jimenez, both expected to play big roles for the bullpen, have made just 26 appearances between the two of them. It didn’t stop there as Richard Lovelady, Trevor May, Yacksel Rios, and Kirby Snead have all spent time on the shelf too, with Lovelady and Rios jointing Rucinski as done for the year.

All three starting outfielders (Brown, Ruiz, Laureano) have spent time on the IL this year while infielders Ryan Noda, Aledmys Diaz, and Kevin Smith have also spent time on the IL, and even backup catchers Carlos Perez and Manny Pina have been hurt for various times this year. There was even a stomach bug making its way around the clubhouse in the past couple of weeks.

Well things might be finally turning a corner in the health department, according to manager Mark Kotsay who spoke on the subject just days ago:

That was a positive update from a couple days ago, and now we got some more solid details about who Kotsay was talking about:

All three of those guys are young players the A’s have acquired recently but they haven’t been able to play due to injury. Ruiz was running his way into Oakland record books before his shoulder injury, and Miller was looking like a rotation building block when he went down with arm troubles. Smith has had chances in the big leagues but could conceivably get another go in the big leagues when he’s healthy enough.

A tough year for the A’s has been made a lot harder with all of these injuries slowly piling up. Finally, though, it seems like the light is at the end of the tunnel and the club should be getting some reinforcements in the coming weeks. Let’s hope no more injury issues pop up over these final couple of months. We need to see more of what the A’s have in some of these young players.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s, Giants Unite the Bay, Chant ‘‘SELL THE TEAM”
• A’s Vegas ballpark could reach 30,000 capacity
• Vegas ballpark won’t have design team until November
• Checking in on the Bleday/Puk trade
• Zack Gelof showing off his tools

MLB News & Interest:

• Dodgers acquire Ahmed Rosario from Guardians for Noah Syndergaard
• Angels acquire Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez from White Sox
• Twins acquire Dylan Floro, send Jorge Lopez to Marlins in reliever swap
• Angels take Ohtani off trade market (report)
• Angels interested in Nats 3B Jeimar Candelario
• Giants’ #2 prospect makes MLB debut
• Owners extend Commissioner through 2029
• Dodgers interested in Joe Kelly
• White Sox discussing Lance Lynn with Rays, Dodgers
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

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