Surgery to end Manaea’s season. C1
Manaea, A’s learn lefty requires surgery likely to keep him out until 2020
BALTIMORE >> The severity of Sean Manaea’s shoulder injury appears to be worse than anybody could have imagined.
Before the A’s 3-2 victory over the Orioles on Tuesday night, the club announced Manaea will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder with Dr. Neil ElAttrache on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. Not only does the surgery end his season, but Manaea is also expected to miss the entire 2019 season.
There were red flags with Manaea since the beginning of the season as his fastball was topping out around 90-92 mph after throwing upward of 96-97 as recently as 2017. The velocity fluctuated throughout the season, even reaching as low as 87 at some points, but Manaea still managed to find success.
“He’s always had something going on in there. I think if you look at anybody’s shoulder that’s a pitcher, you might find something,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Obviously they found something enough to where it warranted surgery.”
Manaea, 29, joins Jharel Cotton, Kendall Graveman, Daniel The top two wild-card teams face each other in a one-game playoff. The winner advances to the divisional round against the division champion with the best record.
Gossett and top prospect AJ Puk as pitchers expected to miss next season. The other four underwent Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, which is obviously a severe procedure but has more of a structured timetable given the common occurrence these days around baseball.
Melvin declined to give spe-
cifics on Manaea’s shoulder surgery, indicating he will do so after the operation is completed.
“When you have it this late in the season and it’s basically a year (of rehabilitation), it would be difficult for him to come back next season,” Melvin said. “We’ll see how he responds. Timeline for a Tommy John surgery is a little easier to forecast. This one might be more difficult.”
Manaea has been the A’s iron man for most of the year, entering August as the only member of the original starting rotation to make every scheduled start. But after shutting down a throwing session early last month in Minnesota, Manaea was placed on the 10day disabled list with what was originally diagnosed as a left shoulder impingement.
The left-hander is 12-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 27 starts this year, including a nohitter against the Boston Red Sox as part of a stellar April that earned him coAmerican League player of the month.
“He was that guy that every series when teams played us, they’re looking to see if Manaea is pitching in that series,” Melvin said. “That’s what your top guy means to you. I feel worse for him; we’ll find a way to manage around it. It’s a big loss for not only us, but for him, personally.”
Even without Manaea, the A’s (88-57) must take care of business against inferior opponents such as the Orioles, who are on pace to finish with one of the worst records in baseball history.
The A’s did that Tuesday night to keep a firm hold on the second American League wild-card spot, three games back of the Houston Astros for first place in the division and two back of the New York Yankees for the first wild card with 17 games remaining.
The Orioles (41-103) entered the night the worsthitting
team (.240) in the AL. That’s a recipe for A’s success, especially with Mike Fiers on the mound.
The right-hander has been excellent since he was acquired in a trade with the Detroit Tigers last month, and he continued that trend with six strong innings in which his only blemish was a solo home run surrendered to Jonathan Villar.
“It seems like that’s pretty much what he’s been giving us, six innings and the lead when he leaves,” Melvin said. “Had things under control and mixed his pitches well. Next thing you know, he’s got another win.”
Teams make trades midseason with the expectations of providing a boost to their ballclubs, and Fiers has done just that. The A’s are 7-0 in games he’s started for them, and Fiers is 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA in his time with Oakland. Overall, he’s 12-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 28 starts.
The strikeout totals continue to be a nice surprise. His seven strikeouts Tuesday night give him 42 as opposed to just seven walks over 39 2/3 innings with Oakland. Going back to May 30, Fiers has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 17 of his last 19 appearances.
The run support for Fiers came in the third inning, when the A’s picked up a trio of RBI hits from Matt Chapman, Khris Davis and Stephen Piscotty. Piscotty’s RBI single was part of a three-hit day, as he continues to have a monster bounce-back year in his debut season with the A’s. He’s upped his average to .269 for the year, batting .367 over his past 21 games. Piscotty also picked up his 39th double of the season, in the eighth.
Rookie sensation Ramón Laureano came through again with yet another highlight reel-worthy play with the Orioles having cut the deficit to a run and threatening for more in the eighth against Lou Trivino. The center fielder laid out for an inning-ending diving catch to rob Trey Mancini of extra bases and perhaps the tying run with Villar on first base.
Even with Monday’s off day, Jeurys Familia came on for the ninth instead of AllStar closer Blake Treinen. Familia turned in a perfect inning to record his 18th save of the year and first with the A’s.
Everything was fine with Treinen, Melvin just wanted to give him extra rest after he pitched in three consecutive games prior to Monday’s off day.
“If we could give him two days in a row at some point we’ll do it. His workload has been pretty extreme,” Melvin said of Treinen, whose 72 1/3 innings pitched lead all major-league closers. “He’s pretty good about managing his pitch count, but it just felt like it was time to give him an extra day. We’re lucky to have a guy like Familia that’s used to being in those situations.”