A’s forced to place another starting pitcher on injured list

Less than two weeks after he was activated from the injured list for the first time this season, Athletics’ right-handed pitcher Mike Fiers is headed back to the 10-day IL, this time with a right elbow sprain, the team announced Saturday morning.

Fiers, 35, has been placed on the injured list more times this season (two) than he had been in the previous 10 years of his career combined (one).

Right-handed reliever Burch Smith, who suffered a groin strain in the first week of the season, was reinstated off the injured list and will take Fiers’ spot on the active roster.

Fiers experienced discomfort in his elbow after his most recent start on May 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays, A’s head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said. Fiers underwent an MRI on Friday which revealed fluid and inflammation around an old ligament injury. He is expected to miss “a few weeks before we reevaluate that elbow and kind of see how it’s doing,” Paparesta said. Fiers will get a second opinion regarding the injury and the best course of action to treat it.

“This is one of those situations where (it’s) wear and tear over a person’s career — this is kind of an acute injury of an old injury, if that makes sense,” Paparesta said.

Fiers missed all of spring training and the first month of the season due to back and hip injuries, but was able to work his way back into form at the A’s alternate site in Stockton. He made four starts in scrimmage games against the Giants’ alternate site players.

Fiers was initially placed in Oakland’s bullpen upon activation from the injured list, but did not make a relief appearance. Fiers instead made two appearances as the A’s sixth starter. He allowed eight earned runs in 9.1 innings pitched and was tagged with the loss in both appearances.

Without Fiers, it is unclear who the A’s will turn to as their fifth starter. Left-hander Jesus Luzardo is also on the injured list with a broken left pinky suffered when he hit his hand on a table while playing video games on May 1. Oakland has just four starters on its active roster, though it has the benefit of an off day on Monday before traveling to Boston to face the Red Sox.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said the team hasn’t yet decided if it will add another starter to the roster.

“Any time we can give starters an extra day, I do like to do that,” Melvin said. “It could go either way and obviously it’s not totally my decision. We’ll talk about this as a group going forward but I do like to give the guys an extra day if possible.”

Smith, 31, suffered a right groin strain and was subsequently placed on the injured list on April 6. In one rehab appearance with the A’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators, Smith threw 1.1 innings and allowed two hits and a run while striking out two.

In two appearances prior to landing on the injured list, Smith had a 3.00 ERA. His role in the Oakland bullpen is not yet clear.

“He’s pretty versatile with what he can do down there, so I don’t have a set role for him right now, so we’ll just see how it goes,” Melvin said.

Pinder and Puk nearing rehab assignment

A’s outfielder Chad Pinder, who hit .300 with a home run and two RBIs in four games to start the season before landing on the injured list with a sprained knee, is set to begin a rehab assignment with the Las Vegas Aviators on Monday, Paparesta said.

Pinder had injured his left knee when he crashed into the padded right-field wall at the Oakland Coliseum on April 4, was able to successfully run the bases over the last several days, including several slides on the infield dirt to test his knee. It is unclear how many games Pinder will play with the Aviators.
“Stay tuned,” Paparesta said.

Pinder won’t be the only Major Leaguer in Las Vegas. The outfielder will join left-handed pitcher AJ Puk at the A’s Triple-A affiliate.

Puk, who was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 8 with a left bicep injury, threw a simulated game in Las Vegas on Saturday and could begin a rehab assignment there “in the middle of next week,” depending on how his arm responds to Saturday’s action.

“We’ll try and map out his progression with that with innings and pitch-count and just see how he does as he performs at the Triple-A level for us,” Paparesta said.

Paparesta added that A’s righty reliever JB Wendelken, who is currently on the injured list due an oblique strain, has been able to do some routine activities such as pick up his baby as well as cough and sneeze without discomfort. It will allow to start working on getting him back to full strength, though there is no timetable for when he might resume throwing.

End of the month “a great goal” for Luzardo

It’s not yet clear when Luzardo will be able to return to game action as he recovers from a hairline fracture in his left pinky suffered while playing video games.

While Paparesta described Luzardo’s timetable simply as “week-to-week,” he said the 23-year-old will be able to play low-intensity catch at 60-75 feet this week and will subsequently undergo another set of x-rays to ensure the bone is healing properly.

“Then we’ll start to increase his effort the following week and hopefully get him off the mound at some point in time,” he said.

Luzardo has been utilizing a wearable, low-level ultrasound unit twice a day in four-hour increments that works as a bone stimulator to aid in his recovery.

“The end of the month I think is a great goal but I’m not going to stamp it on my calendar and say he has to be back at that point,” Paparesta said. “Once we get past this next week of him throwing lightly and making sure that bone doesn’t slip and we don’t have any fractures, then we can start talking about ‘OK, how many days of hard throwing and full effort and full distance?”