Jiménez placed on IL with shoulder injury
The Oakland Athletics placed closer Dany Jiménez on the 15-day injured list as part of a series of roster moves before Tuesday’s game against the Mariners.
Jiménez has a right shoulder strain, the A’s said. Manager Mark Kotsay said an MRI exam showed “nothing structurally damaged” in the righthander’s shoulder but did not estimate how many days Jiménez will miss.
“We’re going to make sure he’s 100%,” Kotsay said. “We’ll take our time through these next 15 days and get him built back up, and then obviously have to assess where he’s at from a strength standpoint before we start playing catch again.”
Jiménez has operated as Oakland’s closer most of this season, with 11 saves in 13 chances. He posted an 0.49 ERA in his first 18 outings, a mark that rose to 4.38 over his last eight appearances, which included his two blown save chances. His IL stint is retroactive to June 19.
Kotsay said the A’s will use matchups for now in save situations. Left-hander A.J. Puk is “definitely a possibility” to see ninth-inning duty, said Kotsay, who also named Zach Jackson and Domingo Acevedo as options.
Oakland also placed reliever Sam Moll, the left-handed setup man with a 1.27 ERA in 26 games, on the COVID-19related IL. The A’s recalled left-handed reliever Kirby Snead from Triple-A Las Vegas and added right-handed reliever Domingo Tapia as a substitute player to fill the vacancies in their bullpen.
On the position-player side, the A’s recalled infielders Nick Allen and Sheldon Neuse from Triple-A. Infielder Matt Davidson was designated for assignment. The A’s already had one opening on their active roster after optioning outfielder Luis Barrera to Triple-A on Monday.
Neuse opened the season with Oakland and hit .328 in April. He then batted .170 in May and was sent down to Triple-A on June 7. He hit .404 in 12 games with Las Vegas and described his time there as a “regroup. I think that was the biggest thing — just go down there and relax a little bit, clear your head.”
Allen, the A’s top infield prospect, is up for his third major-league stint of the season. His first two totaled 10 games in which he hit .174 playing second base and shortstop. Neuse and Jonah Bride are options at second and third base. Allen could play second base and shortstop with the A’s looking to get Elvis Andrus days off in a stretch of 16 games in 16 days that started Tuesday. Kotsay said the A’s also will use infield spots to “evaluate for the long term in terms of Nick and Jonah and the younger guys.”