A’s Stephen Piscotty to undergo wrist surgery

OAKLAND — Stephen Piscotty will undergo surgery on Friday to repair his left wrist, the A’s announced on Thursday.

The A’s did not rule out that Piscotty could return, but it would be unlikely that the 30-year-old could recover and make a rehab assignment with 35 games left in the regular season.

The A’s outfielder has been dealing with wrist pain since last season, A’s athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said. He received two Cortisone shots this year, early this season and in late June, but felt discomfort last weekend in the batting cages while preparing for a pinch hit situation against the San Francisco Giants.

“He made the right decision in the fact he thinks it’s best to get this thing taken care of,” Paparesta said last week.

Piscotty has had inflammation in his ECU tendon and saw wrist specialist Dr. Andrew Leber in Arizona earlier this week and will have surgery Friday morning with Dr. Leber.

“Only so much Cortisone you want to put in and around a tendon,” Paparesta said. “With a thing like this, it could debilitate to a point where he can’t perform and it’ll make him worse. “

In the batting cage last weekend, Piscotty experienced different and new symptoms and discomfort than he experienced in his wrist than he had felt previously.

Piscotty had a tumultuous season impacted by his nagging injury. In 72 games, he batted .220 with a .635 OPS. His struggles date back to 2019, where he dealt with a knee sprain in mid-June and an ankle sprain in August that kept him from the postseason. In 2020 before the pandemic, Piscotty was sidelined with a side injury struggled when the season resumed mid-summer.

In 210 games over the last three seasons, Piscotty is slashing .237/.293/.385 with a .678 OPS compared to a .267/.331/.491 slash line with a .821 OPS in 2018 with the A’s.