A’s Chapman has surgery, expected to be ready for spring
A’s rising star third baseman Matt Chapman, who battled nagging hand discomfort during the season, had surgery on his left thumb, the team announced Thursday.
Chapman, 25, underwent a successful surgery Tuesday as Dr. Steven Shin performed an ulnar-sided sesamoid bone excision along the thumb at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. The A’s said Shin was pleased with the surgery and said Chapman should make a full recovery before spring training. They’re confident the procedure will alleviate the wrist and hand issues that landed Chapman on the disabled list for more than two weeks in June.
Chapman had a slash line of .278/.356/.508 with 24 home runs and 68 RBIs in 145 games. He is the first A’s player since Nick Swisher in 2006 to score 100 runs. — Jon Becker
MILEY TO START FOR ASTROS AGAIN » Wade Miley, take two.
And this time, the Milwaukee Brewers lefthander figures to seeing more than one batter in his next start in the NL Championship Series.
It comes tonight when Miley will try to help the Brewers stave off elimination, down 3-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Miley goes back to the hill two days after being lifted after facing leadoff hitter Cody Bellinger in Game 5 in a designed move by manager Craig Counsell. The Dodgers are going with left-hander Hyun- Jin Ryu in a rematch of the Game 2 starters.
“I think I’ll be fine. Just got to go out and make pitches,” Miley said at Dodger Stadium after the Brewers fell 5-2 Wednesday.
The last pitcher to start back-to-back games in the same postseason series was George Earnshaw of the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1930 World Series, according to STATS. Earnshaw tossed seven shutout innings in Game 5 before pitching a complete game two days later, allowing one run in a win that took the series. Can you top that, Wade? “I started the end of an All-Star break and the other side of it,” Miley said.
Not quite the same. Miley got the last start against the Dodgers, and was pulled after a fivepitch walk.
Counsell explained that the unconventional move was an effort to get the best matchups.
Results were mixed. Los Angeles was held scoreless until the fourth, then broke through with five runs over the next three innings to move within one win of a return trip to the World Series.
“We’re using our roster, we’re using our full roster, I think that’s what all teams are doing in the playoffs,” Counsell said Thursday, a day off as the series shifts back to Miller Park.
CARDINALS WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR WAINWRIGHT » Adam Wainwright wants to return to St. Louis, and the Cardinals want him back.
But a clause in baseball’s labor contract says that Wainwright will have to become a free agent before he can re-sign with the Cardinals. The veteran right-hander is coming off a five-year, $97.5 million deal, and labor rules stipulate that his guaranteed salary cannot drop by more than 20 percent if he stays on the roster continuously.
The Cardinals announced Oct. 11 that they would re-sign Wainwright. Terms of the agreement were not released, but the deal reportedly pays less than the $15.6 million that would need to be met to abide by the labor clause.
The 37-year-old Wainwright was 2-4 with a 4.46 ERA in eight starts in 2018, missing much of the year due to elbow and hamstring ailments. He is fifth on the Cardinals’ alltime list in victories (148) and second in strikeouts (1,623). The franchise sees him as a valuable mentor for younger pitchers.