Bad news for Puk, who faces surgery
The injury bug bit the A’s hard again Friday, ending top pitching prospect A.J. Puk’s season before it started and sending AllStar third baseman Matt Chapman for a second opinion on his ailing hip.
Puk will undergo surgery on his left shoulder next week, the second arm surgery in two years for one of the top pitching prospects in the game. Puk, 25, underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in 2018, wiping out all of the 2019 season and delaying his arrival in the majors until the final weeks of last season.
Puk clearly won’t be joining the A’s for their playoff push, and now they are awaiting news on the status of Chapman, arguably their most indispensable player.
Chapman had been playing with right hip tendinitis this season and finally was shut down last week after going 0 for 11 with 10 strikeouts during last weekend’s series against the Padres.
Manager Bob Melvin said it’s an encouraging sign that the two-time Platinum and Gold Glove winner hasn’t been placed on the IL after undergoing an MRI exam Monday, and noted that “it’s not unusual to get a second opinion.” The A’s will know more about Chapman’s status after his visit Friday in Vail, Colo., with Dr. Marc Philippon.
Puk was penciled into the A’s rotation in spring training before left shoulder issues shut him down shortly before the pandemic hit. The injury wasn’t believed to be serious and the sixth overall pick in the 2016 draft was ramping up to join the team for the final weeks of the regular season and the playoffs before this latest setback.
Dr. Nael ElAttrache will perform the surgery Wednesday. He also performed Tommy John surgery on Puk’s left elbow in 2018.
“For A.J., obviously, it’s been a tough road for him,” Melvin said. “Back and forth, ramping up, having to shut down. Obviously there’s something going on that he needs to take care of.”
The A’s are not able to provide details on the nature of the surgery until Puk is in recovery.
Puk’s issues with his throwing shoulder began this spring in Arizona. The first week of March, Puk was shut down with a shoulder strain and a timetable for his return to the team was still murky when spring training shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The season’s hiatus provided time for the 25-year-old to recover, and by mid-July it looked as if Puk, the A’s top pick in the 2016 MLB draft, could finally claim his rightful spot in the rotation. But the shoulder strain emerged again before the truncated 2020 season began, and Puk was shut down again.
Puk recovered at the A’s alternate site in San Jose. Without the time allotted to ramp as a starter, Puk was projected to rejoin the big league staff as a bridge reliever, of sorts, for the final third of the regular season and potential postseason. The injury reared its head, yet again, as Puk was in the final ramp-up stages for in-game action.
In 10 appearances last season out of the bullpen, Puk went 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA.
How and when Puk will start pitching again for the big league club is unclear. The A’s certainly won’t get him back this season. This late in the 2020 season, with a recovery time unknown, it’s possible Puk could miss part of the 2021 season.
• Daulton Jefferies, the former Cal pitcher whom the A’s drafted 37th overall in 2016, will make his major league debut Saturday. The 25-year-old right-hander has been at the A’s alternate site in San Jose this season.
“He seems to be a real composed kid,” said manager Bob Melvin, whose team will be playing the second of three doubleheaders in an eightday stretch that ends Monday. “He had to go through some injuries, but he finally gets a chance to make his major league debut and he was pretty excited when I told him that.”
A biceps injury during spring training in February set Jefferies back a bit after a promising 2019 in which he’d been named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year. He had a 10.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio at Single-A Stockton and Double-A Midland, striking out 93 batters in 79 innings while walking only nine.
“It’s something that’s always been there for him,” Melvin said of Jefferies’ command. “It’s something a lot of pitchers have to work into, knowing where the baseball is going on a consistent basis. That’s never been an issue for him.”
• Stephen Picsotty, who hasn’t played since Sept. 9 due to a sore left wrist, got a Cortisone shot Thursday and is feeling better. He could be back in the lineup for Saturday’s doubleheader against the Texas Rangers.