Pinder out for a while, and Piscotty day to day

The A’s expect to be without utilityman Chad Pinder for the rest of the regular season and are waiting to determine the extent of right fielder Stephen Piscotty’s knee injury.

An MRI exam showed Pinder has a Grade 1 right hamstring strain, and he likely will spend the next week building back up to baseball activities in hopes of returning for the postseason, which begins Sept. 29, A’s head trainer Nick Paparesta said on a video call Tuesday.

“We hope to have him ready basically at this point in time for our playoff push,” Paparesta said. “We’re not anticipating him to be playing any more regularseason games as of today.”

Piscotty sustained a right knee sprain Monday, and the A’s were waiting for doctors to evaluate his MRI. The sprain involves the patellar tendon, with which Piscotty has had “some chronic issues” with before joining the A’s, Paparesta said. He said Piscotty is “day to day.”

“We’ll probably be cautious moving forward with him as well until he’s ready to get back out there,” Paparesta said.

Pinder was placed on the injured list Sunday. Piscotty remains on the active roster. The A’s likely will keep both around “for a bit of time,” though MLB prefers players doing longerterm rehab this season to work at their team’s alternate site, Paparesta said.

Piscotty, who was hurt leaping at the wall for a home run Monday at Seattle, is batting .248 with five home runs and 29 RBIs, second on the A’s. Pinder, the righthanded half of multiple platoons, is batting .226 with two home runs and seven RBIs.

Rough road: Manager Bob Melvin said no A’s players would be unavailable Tuesday because of playing a doubleheader Monday in air quality rated very unhealthy, but that there were effects.

“When you went home, you felt it for sure, some guys more than others,” Melvin said.

The A’s went from smoky air in Seattle to high altitude in Colorado, arriving around 2 a.m., to play their 11th game in eight days. Paparesta said the A’s had optional onfield activity before Tuesday’s game and stressed hydration and rest to deal with the effects.

“One of the benefits of the COVID rules is the players can’t get to the park until about five hours before,” Paparesta said. “Our guys like to get here early and grind it out a little bit. But this has actually been a benefit for them, and they’re learning how to get their sleep and rest. I think rest, nutrition and hydration are kind of the three biggest things for recovery at this stage.”