San Francisco Chronicle

Semien is encouraged

- By Susan Slusser Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Marcus Semien has to dress and eat one-handed, and he can’t hold his baby son, Isaiah, but the A’s shortstop said his right wrist surgery went so well Tuesday that he might get checked again earlier than expected.

“Hopefully, we can do another CT scan sooner than six weeks because it looked so good,” Semien said Thursday.

Dr. Steve Shin of the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Los Angeles performed the 50-minute procedure, cleaning up some additional inflammati­on along with inserting a screw into the hairline fracture of the scaphoid bone to help it heal faster.

Semien had the option to just have the wrist placed in a cast, but, he said, “If nothing happens in six weeks, you’re probably going to have to get the surgery . ... I said, ‘Let’s just do it.’ ”

Semien believes the injury was the result of swinging during spring training, possibly at an inside pitch or checking his swing, but he doesn’t recall any particular incident. This is his first career trip to the disabled list; the A’s placed him on the 60-day DL Thursday in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for starter Cesar Valdez.

“This is pretty much the worst thing that’s happened in my career, injury-wise,” Semien said. “The doctor was very confident that I could get back and have a good rest of the season.”

Outfielder Jake Smolinski, who also is on the 60-day DL after right shoulder surgery, is out of the sling he wore for four weeks and doing some light weightlift­ing and range-of-motion work. Smolinski said he will begin a throwing program in about 11 weeks. Tryout time: Members of the A’s front office will be on hand Friday when Cuban outfielder Luis Robert, 19, works out at the club’s academy in the Dominican Republic.

Robert was granted free agency Thursday and is eligible to sign May 20 — luckily for Oakland, before the internatio­nal-signing restrictio­ns take effect on the A’s for spending over their bonus pool last year.

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