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Rich Harden Will Miss 2012 Season

Joseph Lopez — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:54:08 +0000

: September 5, 2011; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Rich Harden (18) walks off the field after the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

According to a report issued by the San Francisco Chronicle, Rich Harden will miss the entire 2012 season. Harden, 30, underwent surgery to repair a torn right shoulder capsule. According to the report, it is the same type of injury that caused Dallas Braden to get surgery last year.

Even more alarming, though, is the fact that Harden has pitched with the torn capsule for four years. The injury resulted in more than a few side-effects. For the past few seasons, Harden has seen his velocity drop and his overall health has been in question. According to Susan Slusser’s report, the former A’s starter suffered the torn capsule during the 2007 season, but he did not receive surgery to repair the torn capsule.

Instead, Harden tweaked his pitching mechanics as a way of coping with the injury the following season in 2008. The results were impressive. Harden went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA in 25 starts and 148.0 innings while splitting time between Oakland and the Chicago Cubs. After that season, however, Harden’s numbers looked a little less impressive. (more…)

A’s 2011 In Review: Brett Anderson

Joseph Lopez — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:18:43 +0000

Brett Anderson has long been considered one of Oakland’s brightest young pitchers, but injuries have limited the young lefty to just 32 starts over the past two years. This season was especially disappointing considering Anderson was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery this past July. He’s been making progress, but he’s not expected back in action until the second-half of the 2012 season at the earliest.

At 23, though, these type of arm/shoulder injuries are not an encouraging sight for a young pitcher. Anderson was sidelined twice during the 2010 season due to elbow inflammation, and his 2011 season was cut even shorter due to injuries.

He made 13 starts this year, going 3-6 with a 4.00 ERA over 83.1 innings. Luckily for the A’s, though, the team got extra help this year from Brandon McCarthy and Guillermo Moscoso to help ease the loss of Anderson. (more…)

Report: A’s Release Reliever Wuertz

Joseph Lopez — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 22:16:13 +0000

As reported by the team’s official website, the Oakland A’s released reliever Michael Wuertz on Tuesday. Wuertz, 32, is now hitting the free agent market after the A’s declined to pick up $3.25 million option for 2012.

Entering the season, the A’s had hoped that Wuertz would be able to play a large role in their bullpen. Oakland added veteran relievers like Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes prior to the season as a way of beefing up their bullpen. Having a healthy Wuertz in the mix of that ‘pen definitely would have helped, too.

Wuertz was considered one of the league’s top relievers back in 2009, after compiling 6-1 record with a 2.63 ERA during that season. In addition to his sparkling record and ERA, Wuertz racked up 102 strikeouts in just 78.2 innings that year as well.

As a reward for his stellar ’09 campaign, the A’s awarded Wuertz a two-year deal. The two seasons that followed, however, were far from Oakland’s expectations.

After making 74 appearances in ’09, Wuertz managed to make just 48 appearances in 2010 and 39 this year. After putting in a tremendous amount of work during the ’09 season, Wuertz’s final two years in Oakland are marked with various injuries and disappointments. (more…)