Smith’s elbow ligament OK, but season in doubt

A’s reliever Burch Smith’s forearm injury does not involve the elbow ligament for which he had Tommy John surgery five years ago, but it is unclear whether Smith will pitch again this season, manager Bob Melvin said Monday.

Smith left Saturday’s game against the Giants with a forearm strain, the A’s said. An MRI exam Monday showed the injury “hasn’t compromised the ligament,” Melvin said, which was the A’s primary worry.

“It’s muscular in nature to the extent where he’s at least not going to throw a baseball for two weeks,” Melvin said. “But more than anything we were hoping that the ligament wasn’t involved and that does not appear to be the case.”

The timeline could make a return difficult. If able to resume throwing in September, Smith would need to ramp up again before pitching in games, and the A’s could be careful with him given his arm history.

“It’s going to take some time before he even plays catch again,” Melvin said. “Whether or not he pitches again this year I’m not certain.”

Smith, who had Tommy John surgery in 2015 with Tampa Bay after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament, has been a key A’s bullpen piece this season after being acquired from the Giants in a February trade. He didn’t allow a run in his first 111⁄3 innings, a streak that ended shortly before he left Saturday’s game.

Righthander James Kaprielian, called up Sunday as the A’s placed Smith on the 10day injured list, made his majorleague debut in the A’s 153 win over the Giants. He allowed one run in two innings and struck out one batter, Donovan Solano, on a slider.

“It’s the best we’ve seen him throw,” Melvin said. “As a righthanded pitcher when you throw as hard as he does, you can throw the ball away to a righty and have the slider off it. ... I was impressed.”

Briefly: A.J. Puk, who is recovering from shoulder inflammation, threw a 30pitch bullpen session in San Jose on Monday and will take two days off before his next session . ... A’s outfielder Ramón Laureano is scheduled to return Tuesday from his fourgame suspension for charging the Astros’ dugout. “He’s going crazy,” Melvin said. “It’ll be nice to get him back on the field because he spends way too much time in my office right now.” … In their sweep of the Giants, the A’s became the fourth modernera team to win consecutive games after trailing by three or more runs in the ninth inning or later, joining the 1933 Pirates, 1971 Tigers and 2017 Angels, per Stats LLC.