Bassitt undergoes surgery
Right-hander Chris Bassitt had surgery to repair a fracture in his cheek and had other small broken bones in his face removed in a lengthy procedure Tuesday morning, according to the A's.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Peter Revenaugh at the Rush Medical Center in Chicago a week after Bassitt was struck in the face by a line drive and carted off the field in a 9-0 loss to the White Sox.
“It was very successful, so that is great news,” A's manager Bob Melvin said of the surgery. “All of the little nuances that we probably knew about in there, all went beautifully. They took out fragments, the whole bit. I think it went exceptionally well, and everybody feels great about that.”
Melvin joked that if Bassitt wasn't still in recovery before Tuesday afternoon's game, he probably would have texted that he wanted to pitch next month.
The A's said Bassitt is “stable and resting comfortably.” He's expected to have follow-up appointments when he returns to the Bay Area this week.
Supporting Trivino: After Lou Trivino blew save chances Saturday and Monday, Melvin still backed his closer.
“Up until that point, he was probably as good as anyone in the American League,” the manager said.
Trivino had converted 14 straight save opportunities before yielding homers to the Giants and the Mariners in consecutive outings. His save percentage of 84 (21-for-25) ranked fourth in the American League through Monday, and his 2.43 ERA was 11th among AL relievers.
“That's the hard part of the role: There's not a lot of room for error typically in that role,” Melvin said. “A lot of times, you're coming into one-run games. Not only can you make a bad pitch from time to time, but some things can happen that are out of your control. You have to have a short memory. I know he is eager to get out there again.”
September help? Designated hitter Khris Davis hit two more homers and a triple Tuesday night in Triple-A Las Vegas' 9-4 win over Albuquerque. Davis has hit five homers in his past five games for Las Vegas, making him a long-shot candidate for a September call-up to the big club.
Davis, who signed a minorleague deal in early August in hopes of reviving his career, is 15-for-42 (.357) with a 1.315 OPS for the Aviators. Teams may add only two players when rosters expand next Wednesday.
“We'll see what transpires down the road, but he knew when he came here that it was a long shot,” Melvin said. “I wish we could expand more than two players in September, but he's doing what he set his mind to do.
“He's showing everybody that he still has a lot of baseball left in him.”
After hitting 183 majorleague homers from 2015 to '19, Davis hit a combined four for the A's and Rangers in 2020 and '21.