Oakland Athletics Roundup: Danny Valencia Day-to-Day With Hamstring Injury

Danny Valencia Leaves Game With Left Hamstring Strain After Play at Plate
Oakland Athletics Roundup: Thursday, April 21

The Oakland Athletics announced that Danny Valencia is considered day-to-day, after injuring his left hamstring in Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees. The third baseman left the game early following a spectacular play at the plate, in which Aaron Hicks made a 105.5-mph throw from left field to nail Valencia at home.

MLB’s Jane Lee reported that Melvin is uncertain about whether Valencia’s injury will be short- or long-term, quoting him as saying, “We’ll see tomorrow. Just not sure, though we always have a better indication the next day. He won’t play tomorrow, but hopefully it’s not a DL thing.”

Because of the A’s very limited infield bench, they were forced to move second baseman Chris Coghlan to third, and designated hitter Jed Lowrie to second. Losing the designated hitter resulted in pitcher Kendall Graveman batting in the cleanup spot with a runner in scoring position, where he struck out to end the inning – although he did manage to foul off a pitch.

In another news, the A’s released a statement confirming that infielder Eric Sogard had undergone successful left knee surgery in Florida on Wednesday. Dr. James Andrews performed a debridement of the patellar tendon, to remove loose bodies that had caused knee pain and discomfort for Sogard for more than a year. As reported Wednesday, Sogard expects to miss six to eight weeks.

On the minor league side, Jesse Hahn pitched 2.1 innings of one-run baseball for the Nashville Sounds. Don’t fret, A’s fans – Hahn is just fine. He was on a 50-pitch limit, in an effort to get him back on track for his Sunday start following a rain out. His start on Wednesday came in the first game of a double-header, and the Athletics just want to make sure he’s on a schedule that coincides with their fifth rotation slot. Could a callup be in his future?

Right-hander Henderson Alvarez made his first rehab start on Wednesday as well, pitching three innings for the High-A Stockton Ports. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out a batter. He is also expected to be a key part of the big league rotation, as soon as mid-May.

Editor’s Note: Interested in writing for Swingin’ A’s? Check out the application link above. We are looking for at least two new writers for the 2016 season!

In Case You Missed It

You Can’t Spell Khris Davis With the “K”– Sure, Khris Davis contributed on Wednesday night, but should fans be concerned about his performance anyway? Rich Paloma writes about the consequences of keeping Davis in the lineup even when he’s not meeting expectations.

Jesse Hahn is Ready to Return to A’s Rotation – Jesse Hahn’s first two starts for the Nashville Sounds were scoreless six-inning outings in which he threw nearly 70 percent of his pitches for strikes. Left-hander Eric Surkamp has been good, but not great, and he’s struggled to go deep into games. Should Hahn’s next start be in an A’s uniform instead?

Stellar Bullpen Help’s A’s to Be Road Warriors – A good bullpen is the key to a winning season, and so far in this Yankees’ series, the Athletics have surely been impressed with just how effective their relief crew has been. Mark Sigmon discusses Tuesday night’s win, and why there’s reason to have some hope for the A’s in 2016.

#Athletics

Around the Web

Yanks Go Yard: Is A-Rod Done? – Caleb Gebrewold of FanSided’s Yanks Go Yard wrote an interesting piece this week on Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez. Geberewold evaluates whether the early season slump the aging slugger finds himself in his a sign of permanent decline, or just temporary struggles.

“The baseball season is a very long one, and slumps happen to every player. When they happen in April and May, they are just a lot more noticeable, as was the case with Carlos Beltran in 2015. If Rodriguez’s batting average is still just over .100 come the summertime, then that is when panic levels should be raised, not after 11 games.”

Next: The Top 50 A's of All-Time

Gebrewold makes a valid point. If Rodriguez had an 11-game slump in July or August, his struggles would melt into his average, and people would simply call it a slump. When it happens on Day 1, it’s hard to keep perspective on the fact that going 1-for-10 is not the same as going 10-for-100, or 50-for-500. Two weeks is a very small sample size, and players heat up and cool off at different times throughout the season – A-Rod and others like him just happened to start the season with a “cool” period.

This logic could apply to Billy Butler, Khris Davis and Yonder Alonso as well – among others. Should A’s fans be more patient, like Gebrewold suggests with A-Rod, or is there reason to panic after two weeks of the season?