Opportunity for Barreto

ANAHEIM — Your A’s news in a nutshell: Stephen Piscotty is out (for now), Franklin Barreto is up, and Khris Davis is almost there.

Piscotty sprained his left knee sliding into second base Saturday night, trying to stretch a single. He was in obvious pain and was helped off the field. The A’s placed him on the Injured List, but Sunday morning the outlook was slightly brighter. He will undergo an MRI exam Monday.

“We feel like it might not be as significant (an injury) as it looked last night,” manager Bob Melvin said Sunday morning, “but you never know until you have the MRI, so we have our fingers crossed.”

To fill Piscotty’s spot, the A’s called up infielder/outfielder Barreto from TripleA Las Vegas. In his last 40 games there, Barreto hit .358, with 42 runs, 10 homers, 39 RBIs and a .398 onbase percentage.

Last year Barreto had six callups to the A’s and batted .233 in 32 games, with five homers. Barreto went 0for4 with a run for the A’s on Sunday.

“He’s a real dynamic player,” Melvin said. “For a little guy, he’s got a ton of power. He’s got power to the opposite field, he’s probably our fastest guy now. He can steal some bases. Obviously there’s some versatility to what he does, playing some outfield and so forth.

“A few years ago this was our top prospect. Been blocked a little bit (from playing time with the A’s), really hasn’t had the opportunity that a prospect like him could potentially have. Now it looks like he’s going to get some games here. I hope he gets off to a good start, because he could really add to our lineup.”

Davis suffered a contusion on the outside of his left hand Thursday when he was struck by a fastball. He sat out Friday and Saturday because he had trouble gripping a bat.

“He feels a little better today,” Melvin said. “He is making some progress.”