Rotation roulette
Manaea latest starter to be injured as A’s get only four hits in blanking by Astros
HOUSTON — Another injury to another starting pitcher. The A’s inability to keep starters healthy is reaching the realm of farce.
Sean Manaea wasn’t feeling the humor as he walked off the field in the fourth inning of what would be a 6-0 loss to the Astros on Monday night. He was feeling the pain of a left rhomboid (back) injury. He was feeling his body betraying him.
“I wanted to stay in there. I was just frustrated,’’ Manaea said. He went on the D.L. for two weeks in June and hoped never to do so again. “To me, it just feels like I’m letting everyone down. I hate being hurt and being taken out early, especially in a close game.’’
The A’s were down 2-0 at the time of the injury, both runs unearned thanks to back-to-back errors in the second inning by rookie third baseman Ryon Healy.
Manaea said he first felt his back stiffen up on him in the second, although catcher Stephen Vogt said he didn’t notice a drop in the lefty’s velocity until the third.
One out into the fourth, manager Bob Melvin and trainer Nick Paparesta came to the mound after seeing Manaea’s velocity fall into the mid-80s range. There was nothing Manaea could say to force the powers that be to let him continue to pitch.
He’s had a tough learning curve in a 5-9 rookie season, but
the 6-foot-5 lefty has been getting better, his ERA tumbling from 6.02 when he came off the D.L. at the end of June to its current 4.40.
Now the A’s may be looking for a body for what would be Manaea’s next scheduled start Sunday in the Coliseum against the Red Sox.
Right-hander Raul Alcantara, who gave up two runs in five innings for Triple-A Nashville on Monday would be the logical pick as he’s been starting the same days at Manaea. He’s 4-0 with a 1.18 ERA and .219 opponents’ batting average in eight starts for the Sounds since being promoted from Double-A.
More than that, he’s one of two Nashville starters Melvin said before the game he’d like to see in September. The other is Jharel Cotton, who came within one out of a perfect game in his second start for the Sounds after being picked up in from the Dodgers in the trade that sent starter Rich Hill and right fielder Josh Reddick to Los Angeles.
“If (Manaea) is feeling it at all in the next couple of days, we’d at least skip him one start,’’ Melvin said.
The A’s have already used a dozen starting pitchers this season. It’s been a nightmare for Melvin and pitching coach Curt Young.
“This isn’t like my first year in Seattle,’’ Melvin said, hearkening back to 2003, when he used the same five starters — Freddy Garcia, Joel Pineiro, Gil Meche, Ryan Franklin and Jamie Moyer — all season long without ever needing to scramble to find healthy arms.
As it is now, there are three relievers in the Oakland rotation, Ross Detwiler, Andrew Triggs and Zach Neal, simply because the starters can’t stay healthy.
“This is the most I’ve ever had to deal with,’’ Melvin said. “And I think for the club as well.’’
Cotton and Daniel Mengden, who has been up with the A’s several times already this season, are on the short list for potential A’s starters in September. So too, is Jesse Hahn, who is scheduled to return after one more injury rehabilitation assignment start Wednesday with Class AStockton.
After Manaea left, n the Astros added four more runs against reliever Chris Smith, who started well by retiring the first five men he faced. Jose Altuve brought all that to an end in the fifth with a solo homer, and Smith was out of the game after loading the bases with no one out in the sixth.
Reliever J.W. Wendelken gave up a two-run single to Alex Bregman and a run-scoring hit by Carlos Correa as the Astros kept building on their lead.
The A’s offense collected n just four hits, two from shortstop Marcus Semien, and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The 57-74 A’s were shut out for the ninth time this year.
The new timetable n for reliever Sean Doolittle is for him to rejoin the A’s on Friday when the Red Sox visit the Coliseum. The lefty, out since June 26 with shoulder trouble, will throw in a game Tuesday with Nashville as a final tuneup before coming off the disabled list.
DH Billy Butler n passed the last of his concussion protocol tests Sunday in St. Louis and was activated by the A’s Monday. “I’m ready; I just need to get my timing back,’’ he said.
Butler pinch-hit in the ninth inning and grounded out to end the game.
Starter Henderson n Alvarez (shoulder surgery) will pitch Tuesday with Stockton in his ongoing bid to get back with the A’s, probably as a reliever, before the season is over.
Sonny Gray played n catch Sunday for the first time since landing on the disabled list on Aug. 7 with a strained right forearm. His strengthening exercises have been going well, so much so that Melvin now believes having Gray return to pitch this season is at least possible.
Catcher Josh Phegley, n hospitalized since Friday with synovitis in his right knee, is due to be released from the hospital Tuesday. It’s a complication from the knee surgery he had midseason. The A’s had hoped he’d be available for the final month of the season, but they now believe it’s unlikely he will play again this year.