Pinder placed on injured list
Chad Pinder was one of the few bright spots for the A’s in the first days of the season until he sprained his left knee, and now it looks as if the utilityman will be out much longer than anticipated.
Pinder went on the 10-day injury list after the A’s were swept at home by the Houston Astros and is eligible to be activated this week. But manager Bob Melvin said Pinder has been shut down in hopes more rest will improve his recovery. Melvin said the team’s medical staff doesn’t think surgery will be required.
“It’s not going to be a 10day period. It’s going to be more,” Melvin said Monday before the A’s opened a twogame road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “It
was a little more significant than we thought, or that he thought.”
Pinder, 29, was a surprise starter in right field on Opening Day April 1 against the Astros. He had an outstanding spring, and used the first few games of the season to begin making a case to get more regular playing time before he was injured.
He collected two of the A’s six hits in the 8-1 seasonopening loss and was a human highlight reel in the field. He robbed the Astros’ Kyle Tucker of an RBI extra-base-hit with a catch at the wall in the third inning. Two innings later, his diving catch robbed Jose Altuve of a potential RBI extrabase-hit. The next night, he came off the bench and hit a two-run home run in a 9-5 loss to the Astros.
But in the series finale, Pinder injured his left knee when he crashed into the padded right-field wall while making a leaping catch for the first out of the game. Pinder remained in the game for the remainder of the inning, but was removed before he batted.
As it turns out, Pinder had tweaked his knee in a game before that catch and tried to play on it, Melvin said.
“He hasn’t done any baseball activity yet so we’re still a ways away from him,” Melvin said.
• Designated hitter Mitch Moreland hasn’t played since
Thursday, a day after his 10thinning, walk-off heroics, because of a sore hamstring. But he was available to pinch-hit Monday, Melvin said.
• Mike Fiers, on the 10day IL with a lumbar strain, pitched on Saturday and will pitch at the A’s alternate site against the RiverCats again on Thursday. He’s scheduled to throw 75 pitches, then one more outing before the A’s hope to bring him back to Oakland.
“Knock wood, all goes well there, after two starts he’ll be back with us,” Melvin said.
• The A’s will get a look at Diamondbacks rising star Zac Gallen after all. Gallen opened the season on the injured list after suffering a hairline fracture in his forearm in late March, but has been activated to start in today’s finale. Gallen was injured while taking batting practice in spring training.