Diaz, A's third base candidate, sidelined
The wide-open battle for the A's starting third baseman job took an unfortunate turn for veteran Aledmys Diaz, who could open the regular season on the injured list.
Diaz, easily Oakland's highestpaid position player at $8 million this season, was diagnosed Friday with a strained groin suffered on Wednesday that manager Mark Kotsay said will sideline him at least “2-to-3 weeks.”
Jordan Diaz and Darell Hernaiz, Diaz's two biggest competitors at third base who had been struggling, each factored into Oakland's 12-8 spring training win over Seattle on Saturday. Diaz, who entered the game 1 for 8, doubled and scored twice. Hernaiz, the team's No. 9 prospect according to MLB.com, had a hit, scored and drove in a run after starting the spring just 1 for 10.
Seth Brown, whose $2.6 million salary makes him Oakland's second-highest paid position player, had two hits and drove in two on Saturday. Backup catcher hopeful Kyle McCann homered and had two RBIs for the A's.
Mitch Spence, whom the A's picked with the No. 1 pick in December's Rule 5 draft, solidified his chances of sticking on the roster. The former Yankees righthander started and threw three scoreless innings while striking out two. His spring ERA sits at 1.80 after two starts.
— Jon Becker
MRI on Friday. He will be evaluated on Monday by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who repaired the outfielder's torn right ACL in July 2021.
The 26-year-old Acuña is expected to be ready for the start of the regular season, but that timeline could change after he sees ElAttrache in California.
“Right now we're trying to be optimistic,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters Saturday. “But honestly, I don't know until we get what the doctor out there says.”
Acuña posted “I'LL BE BACK” on social media on Saturday.
He led Atlanta to its sixth consecutive NL East title in 2023, hitting a career-best .337 with 41 home runs, 106 RBIs and 73 steals in 159 games.
He got into a rundown between second and third in the third inning of Thursday's 5-0 win against Minnesota. He was replaced before the start of the sixth and then was scratched from Atlanta's lineup on Friday. CAUTIOUS APPROACH FOR MANOAH >> Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah felt some soreness during a bullpen session on Friday. He had an MRI that showed “no structural concern at all,” manager John Schneider said.
“He was throwing and kind of just said `Eh, it feels a little bit cranky,' and just wanted to be extra careful at this point in camp,” Schneider told reporters.
Manoah went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts for Toronto in 2022. But he struggled last year, going 3-9 with a 5.87 ERA in 19 starts. He was optioned to the minors twice.
The right-hander hit three batters and threw just 17 of 38 pitches for strikes in 1 2/3 innings in his first spring start Tuesday.