A’s Bailey Aiming For Sunday Return

The Oakland A’s, who enter today’s finale against the Tampa Bay Ray, are hoping to get Andrew Bailey, their young closer, back from the 15-day disabled list today. Bailey, who has pitched exceptionally well this season—he has a 1.56 ERA and 20 Saves this season—made a rehab appearance on Friday with mixed results. Bailey threw 18 pitches on Friday, and faced five batters. Altogether, however, Bailey allowed two earned runs on three hits and struck out one. The A’s, however, are just happy to see that Bailey is healthy, or at least getting there. This season has been riddled with so many injuries this season for Oakland (Eric Chavez, Ben Sheets, Justin Duchscherer…the list goes on and on). Getting Bailey back would be huge for the A’s today, as they look to capture the series with a win today. Dallas Braden, who threw his perfect game last time he faced the Rays on May 9, will look to get the A’s back on track today.

For more on Bailey’s possible return, you can visit the A’s official site just by clicking here. Below is an excerpt from what Bailey had to say about his possible return from the disabled-list.

"“I think we’re coming down to the end here and it’s just about being able to respond quickly and feel good the next day as well,” Bailey said. “Obviously, not playing in a month, you’re not going to be as sharp as you’d like to be. I think right now, based on how I felt yesterday, it’s more of a baseball thing than a health issue.”"