A’s lose another starter to injury

Melvin: ‘Starting to get fairly significant’

MESA, Ariz. – A’s starter Paul Blackburn has a strained right forearm that will force him to miss the start of the regular season, but an MRI exam Thursday revealed no structural damage.

That’s what passes as good news in A’s camp these days.

In the wake of Tommy John surgery for Jharel Cotton and a mysterious ailment surrounding prospect A.J. Puk, the prognosis surrounding Blackburn came as something as a relief.

A’s manager Bob Melvin acknowledged he feared Blackburn might be headed for Tommy John surgery, too.

“It’s nice to know that’s not going to be the case with him,” he said.

Instead, Blackburn will get 10 days of rest to see if that eases the soreness in his throwing arm. After that, Blackburn said, he can “move forward” with his preparations for the season if he feels well enough to do so.

“Yeah, it’s definitely disappointing,” said Blackburn, 24. “You prepare all offseason to start the year healthy. That’s not the case for me, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself. I’m just going to train and prepare to get back.”

Though the injury was deemed minor, Blackburn’s injury is still a blow to an A’s rotation lacking depth. As Melvin said, the list of ailing arms is “starting to get fairly significant right now.”

Baltimore SUN/TNS Oakland A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn became the team’s latest starter to go down with an injury and will miss the start of the season with a strained right forearm.