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Denzel Clarke's defensive presence was missed on Friday night, when center fielder Henry Bolte misplayed a pair of balls in short order, losing one off the bat and then missing a grounder up the middle that hit off his glove.
Bolte obviously wasn't thrilled with himself following those plays, but his manager Mark Kotsay was impressed with how he dealt with the adversity.
"It's a tough inning for him," Kotsay said after Friday's game. "I thought he handled it professionally. Any time you go through adversity, you want to see how players react, and he held his head high, continuing to give effort throughout the rest of the game."
Bolte isn't in Saturday's lineup, with Lawrence Butler taking over in center. Washington Nationals starter Zack Littell has given up a .281 batting average against with a .332 OBP, compared to a .240 average and .290 OBP vs. right-handers. His FIP against lefties is also 7.43. Kotsay has loaded the lineup with five left-handed bats and switch-hitting Jonah Heim counting as a sixth.
Clarke was taking batting practice before the game and is well into his baseball progressions.
"Denzel's pretty far along," Kotsay said Saturday when we asked how far into his progression he is, and when he may head out on a rehab assignment. "If I gave a timeline, I would think it's probably a week if things go really well."
He still needs to increase the intensity of his running progression before he goes out on a rehab assignment. The hope is that he'll be playing minor-league games in the next 7-10 days.
As far as how long that rehab assignment could last, Clarke is likely looking at needing around 30-45 at-bats in the minors before he's ready to rejoin the A's roster. He also wouldn't just begin by playing nine innings, needing a slight progression to get up to a full-game workload as well.
Severino's MRI came back on Saturday, and showed healing of the shoulder capsule and subscapularis muscle. He is progressing with plyometric exercises and looks to begin a throwing progression soon, per the A's.
In terms of getting him back in the rotation, that could still take awhile. Once he begins a throwing program, then he's on a path toward a rehab stint. Given that he's a starter, that rehab stint would take a few weeks to build his arm back up to a starter's workload.
"The hope is that the start of the throwing progression goes well and we can continue that, and hopefully build him up before it's too late to have a season for him," Kotsay said Saturday.
Severino has been out since May 30 with a right shoulder strain, leaving his start on May 29 after one inning. While the veteran right-hander is 2-6 on the year, he held a 4.16 ERA in 12 starts. In his 11 starts before the injury, he went at least five innings in 10 of them, and provided at least six innings in five.
The A's haven't been able to find someone else to cover those same innings consistently, and their entire pitching staff has crumbled since. The bullpen gets asked to cover innings more often, and that adds up.
The team had a 4.41 ERA, ranking 23rd in MLB through May 29. From May 30 through Saturday, the A's team ERA has climbed to 6.85 — a full run higher than the 29th ranked Rockies. They have gone 14-26 in that span.
With the A's scrambling to fill Severino's innings, Clarke's defense not lifting up the entire outfield like he did last season, and the rest of the injuries to key offensive pieces, the team has struggled immensely.
The A's will be looking to snap a 10-game losing streak on Saturday with a favorable pitching matchup.
Continue reading...
Bolte obviously wasn't thrilled with himself following those plays, but his manager Mark Kotsay was impressed with how he dealt with the adversity.
"It's a tough inning for him," Kotsay said after Friday's game. "I thought he handled it professionally. Any time you go through adversity, you want to see how players react, and he held his head high, continuing to give effort throughout the rest of the game."
Bolte isn't in Saturday's lineup, with Lawrence Butler taking over in center. Washington Nationals starter Zack Littell has given up a .281 batting average against with a .332 OBP, compared to a .240 average and .290 OBP vs. right-handers. His FIP against lefties is also 7.43. Kotsay has loaded the lineup with five left-handed bats and switch-hitting Jonah Heim counting as a sixth.
Clarke was taking batting practice before the game and is well into his baseball progressions.
"Denzel's pretty far along," Kotsay said Saturday when we asked how far into his progression he is, and when he may head out on a rehab assignment. "If I gave a timeline, I would think it's probably a week if things go really well."
He still needs to increase the intensity of his running progression before he goes out on a rehab assignment. The hope is that he'll be playing minor-league games in the next 7-10 days.
As far as how long that rehab assignment could last, Clarke is likely looking at needing around 30-45 at-bats in the minors before he's ready to rejoin the A's roster. He also wouldn't just begin by playing nine innings, needing a slight progression to get up to a full-game workload as well.
Luis Severino Update
Severino's MRI came back on Saturday, and showed healing of the shoulder capsule and subscapularis muscle. He is progressing with plyometric exercises and looks to begin a throwing progression soon, per the A's.
In terms of getting him back in the rotation, that could still take awhile. Once he begins a throwing program, then he's on a path toward a rehab stint. Given that he's a starter, that rehab stint would take a few weeks to build his arm back up to a starter's workload.
"The hope is that the start of the throwing progression goes well and we can continue that, and hopefully build him up before it's too late to have a season for him," Kotsay said Saturday.
Severino has been out since May 30 with a right shoulder strain, leaving his start on May 29 after one inning. While the veteran right-hander is 2-6 on the year, he held a 4.16 ERA in 12 starts. In his 11 starts before the injury, he went at least five innings in 10 of them, and provided at least six innings in five.
The A's haven't been able to find someone else to cover those same innings consistently, and their entire pitching staff has crumbled since. The bullpen gets asked to cover innings more often, and that adds up.
The team had a 4.41 ERA, ranking 23rd in MLB through May 29. From May 30 through Saturday, the A's team ERA has climbed to 6.85 — a full run higher than the 29th ranked Rockies. They have gone 14-26 in that span.
With the A's scrambling to fill Severino's innings, Clarke's defense not lifting up the entire outfield like he did last season, and the rest of the injuries to key offensive pieces, the team has struggled immensely.
The A's will be looking to snap a 10-game losing streak on Saturday with a favorable pitching matchup.
Continue reading...
