A’s corner outfielder Seth Brown has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique, skipper Mark Kotsay told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). The injury has a general recovery timeline of four to six weeks.
Brown was already placed on the 10-day injured list over the weekend. It’s clear he’ll miss well beyond that minimum amount of time. It’s a tough blow to the A’s offense, as the lefty-hitting Brown was one of their more potent power bats. He connected on 25 home runs with a .230/.305/.444 line over 555 plate appearances last season. Brown started the year slowly but caught fire in the second half, tying for 11th in the majors with 15 homers after the All-Star Break.
As a result, Brown was penciled into the middle of the Oakland lineup against right-handed pitching. He’d hit third or fourth in all eight of his starts this season. Brown had opened the year slowly, hitting just .200 with one homer over his first 32 plate appearances. Still, his solid production of the previous two years ensured he’d get a long leash in an Oakland lineup that doesn’t have many established hitters.
The rebuilding A’s have predictably been off to a terrible start offensively. Only the Tigers (who have played one fewer game) have scored fewer runs than Oakland’s 28, and the A’s have a team slash line of just .198/.270/.325. They’re 2-8 through their first ten games.
Conner Capel has picked up the last three starts in left field. The 25-year-old seems likely to get the biggest jump in playing time with Brown out of action. Claimed off waivers from the Cardinals last summer, Capel has a .299/.355/.478 line in 30 big league games. The left-handed hitter combined for a .259/.361/.425 mark over 409 Triple-A plate appearances last season.
Rebuilding in Oakland or Vegas? You have to wonder is that new stadium thing is just a vulgar excuse…
1. In Oakland.
2. Not an excuse.
They’re dropping 2M a week on the Terminal Site issues according to their team president. They showed like 28m in profit last year according the the Marin Counties correction of the Forbes report. We’ll see. It’s going to come to a head. I wish an interest would sweep in on this. They passed an environmental legal challenge on the proposed new park last week. Hope…sometimes it’s small.
Kevin Smith hit in Arizona, and was on a tear in Las Vegas. The box shows 3ks yesterday for him. But he had a solid shot to the opposite field with juice on it. I’d like to see them give him a run to see if his power is legit. There’s NOTHING to lose.
Time to start running as well. Esteury Ruiz was on late in the game, and I was mystified why they didnt send him. Not sure why. Guy can fly..but has one attempt. They’re a -49 run differential right now. Gotta turn it lose A’s…
Yup. No sense in having both Peterson/Díaz in the lineup along with Aguilar. Noda appears to have cemented a regular spot in the lineup which is deserved. He’s had some great AB’s so far. Smith had 2 hits in today’s loss. Let the prospects play so we can see what they’ve got. Bring up Sodes/Bleday/JDiaz in June. We’ve got nothing to lose this year.
Competitive games. If they’re competing I’ll call that a win in ’23. Set aside all the other stuff going on with the franchise. That’s my bar.
Take the oblique challenge. Go to a batting cage and take 5 level straight out of the Charlie Lau book swings, then take 5 swings with a uppercut to emulate the 15-20 degree launch angle being targeted in todays game as the optimal launch angle. Then decide which one strains your oblique.