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A.J. Puk

A.J. Puk Making Progress In Recovery From Shoulder Injury

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Athletics lefty A.J. Puk was slowed by some shoulder trouble in early March, creating some unwelcome uncertainty for a player that just returned late last year from a major injury. Fortunately, Puk has been throwing throughout the COVID-19 shutdown and has progressed to long-tossing from 120 feet, he said in an appearance on Susan Slusser’s A’s Plus podcast (audio link).

Medical review had seemingly ruled out the most troubling potential scenarios. But Puk’s outlook was still a bit unclear when last we checked in. It seems he’s now firmly on the upswing/

“It’s probably the best my shoulder’s felt in awhile actually,” said Puk. “Coming back from Tommy John, a lot of people always seem to talk about how your shoulder kind of flares up and you’ve just got to work through it. I think I was at that stage.”

Puk, the former No. 6 overall pick, added that he has access to mounds from which to throw at nearby facilities. He and fellow top prospect Jesus Luzardo chatted with Slusser about the state of their workouts amid the current stoppage, detailed the ways they’ve kept busy and shared their thoughts on a potentially shortened season or playing in front of empty parks.

Quick Hits: Suarez, Puk, Trammell, Braves

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Injured Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez continues to make progress in his recovery from the right shoulder surgery he underwent in January, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relays. Manager David Bell announced that Suarez will make his spring training debut Friday. Suarez won’t play the field in that game, but optimism continues to build that the slugger will be ready for Opening Day.

Now for the latest on a few other clubs…

  • Athletics hurler A.J. Puk has been down with a mild shoulder strain for a week, but the left-hander said Monday that he expects to resume throwing Tuesday (Twitter links via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). While Puk’s still hopeful that he’ll be set to go for the beginning of the regular season, he added that he doesn’t “want to rush anything. It’s a long season and I’d rather be feeling healthy down the stretch.” The promising Puk, 24, hasn’t experienced a healthy big league season yet. He missed 2018 because of Tommy John surgery and then combined for fewer than 40 professional innings last year as he worked his way back. However, he did toss 11 1/3 quality frames from the A’s bullpen late in the season. If Puk’s health holds up in 2020, he could emerge as a key member of Oakland’s rotation.
  • Although he hasn’t played above the Double-A level yet, Padres outfield prospect Taylor Trammell remains in consideration for a major league roster spot, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. It’s a long shot that Trammell will actually begin the year in the majors, according to Cassavell, but manager Jayce Tingler noted that the 22-year-old is “playing really well” and has had “a great experience” in spring training. Trammell, whom the Padres acquired from Cincy in a blockbuster trade last summer, has gone 9-for-23 with three doubles and a triple this spring.
  • Lefty A.J. Minter and righty Chad Sobotka’s bids to earn season-opening roster spots with the Braves have already ended. The team optioned the pair Monday, leaving it with 52 players on its camp roster, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. Neither pitcher performed well for the Braves last year. Minter walked a little over seven hitters per nine, contributing heavily to a hideous 7.06 ERA in 29 1/3 innings. Sobotka wasn’t much better over his 29 frames, in which he logged a 6.21 ERA with 5.9 walks per nine and an HR/9 of 1.86.

A.J. Puk Has No Structural Damage In Shoulder

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MARCH 5: Today’s visit to Dr. Neil ElAttrache confirmed that Puk has no structural damage in the shoulder, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). The southpaw figures to resume throwing in the next few days, Melvin added.

MARCH 3: The Athletics have temporarily shut down left-hander A.J. Puk because of a mild shoulder strain, manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday (via Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Fortunately for both sides, an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, per Gallegos, who adds that the A’s will re-evaluate Puk on Thursday or Friday.

This doesn’t look like a serious injury at this point, but it’s a bit scary for an Oakland rotation that has dealt with constant issues over the past couple years. Puk wasn’t immune to those troubles prior to Thursday, as the prized 24-year-old missed all of 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and then sat out the majority of last season while recovering. He did work his way back late in the year, though, returning to make an impressive major league debut across 11 2/3 innings from the A’s bullpen. The towering Puk (6-foot-7) averaged just over 97 mph on his fastball during that brief showing.

Now, if he is healthy enough to begin the year in the bigs, Puk should be in line to open the season from the A’s rotation. The back-to-back playoff club boasts plenty of talent in that area, though the A’s fought no shortage of injuries in their starting staff during those two seasons. If all goes well over the next few weeks, Oakland figures to start 2020 with Puk complementing Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo and Mike Fiers in its rotation.

Athletics To Promote A.J. Puk

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The Athletics will promote left-hander A.J. Puk from Triple-A Las Vegas prior to tomorrow’s game, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). Puk, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2016 draft, will need to have his contract formally selected. Oakland has an opening on its 40-man roster to accommodate him.

A.J. Puk | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Puk, 24, is considered by virtually every major prospect outlet to be among the game’s top 50 prospects. He’s viewed as a potential key piece to the Athletics’ rotation down the road, but he’s been working primarily in relief this season as he works back from 2018 Tommy John surgery. The towering 6’7″ southpaw has a lackluster 4.97 ERA in 25 1/3 minor league innings this season, but he’s also punched out 38 hitters against 10 walks in that time.

Fangraphs currently rates Puk as baseball’s No. 21 prospect, putting a 65 grade on his fastball, a 60 on his slider and giving him the potential for two more average or better offerings in his changeup and curveball. MLB.com lists Puk 43rd among MLB prospects and dropped a 70 grade on his heater with a 65 on his slider. Puk, who paced all minor league starters with 13.2 K/9 in his last full season back in 2017, is touted as a potential No. 2 starter at the Major League level. He’ll likely get the opportunity to make good on those bullish forecasts in 2020, alongside the likes of Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and perhaps fellow ballyhooed left-hander Jesus Luzardo, but for now he’ll step into Bob Melvin’s bullpen and look to help shut things down in the late innings.

Oakland has three left-handers in the ’pen at the moment, with Jake Diekman, Wei-Chung Wang and Ryan Buchter all giving Melvin southpaw options. All three of those southpaws have had issues with commanding the strike zone, though, and none can match Puk’s overall ceiling as a game-changing relief weapon. Taking a broader look, Oakland has seen closer Blake Treinen follow up a dominant 2018 campaign with a dismal 2019 showing. Fellow righty Lou Trivino has taken similar steps backward, leaving the A’s with a bullpen that’s been weaker than they anticipated.

By promoting Puk now, the A’s will be positioning themselves to control him through 2025 season, although future optional assignments to the minors could yet impact that timeline. If he’s in the big leagues from Tuesday through season’s end, he’ll accrue 41 days of big league service, though, meaning in order to push his path to free agency back until the 2026-27 offseason, the A’s would need to keep him in Triple-A for nearly two months next season. In other words, this appears quite likely to be a chance for Puk to cement himself as a big leaguer and leave the minor leagues behind. If he is indeed in the Majors for good, he wouldn’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2022 season.

AL West Notes: Kelley, Peacock, Puk

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Shawn Kelley will undergo an MRI after feeling what the Rangers described as right biceps tendon soreness during today’s game, manager Chris Woodward told MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and other reporters.  Kelley left today’s game without throwing a pitch, as the veteran righty’s injury developed during his warmup pitches after being called out of the bullpen during the eighth inning.  Over 33 innings this season, Kelley has posted a 3.00 ERA, 8.73 K/9, and a 6.4 K/BB rate, so he’ll be sorely missed in the Texas bullpen if an injured list placement is required.

Kelley’s loss could be doubly problematic for the Rangers since the 35-year-old profiled as a potential trade chip for a Texas club that seems to be falling out of contention.  After surprising many by staying within striking distance of the wild card hunt, a seven-game losing streak has dropped Texas to a 50-49 record and a deficit of 6.5 games between the Rangers and the A’s for the last AL wild card berth.  With such players as Mike Minor and Danny Santana already drawing trade interest from rival teams, Texas is running short on time to prove to the front office that it can contend.

Some more from around the AL West…

  • In an interview on the Astros’ pregame show today (hat tip to the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome), general manager Jeff Luhnow projected that Brad Peacock will likely be out of action until roughly the “middle of next month, realistically.”  Peacock’s recovery from shoulder inflammation hit a setback last week, and the right-hander is now looking at an injured list stint of at least six weeks (he hit the IL on June 28) if Luhnow’s mid-August timeline ends up being accurate.  Peacock’s extended absence has only further deepened the Astros’ need for pitching reinforcements, as he was expected to return from the IL last week.
  • Top Athletics pitching prospect A.J. Puk will be promoted to the organization’s Triple-A affiliate, according to Melissa Lockard of The Athletic (Twitter link).  After Tommy John surgery forced Puk to miss all of 2018, the 6’7″ left-hander got back into action in June, posting a 5.02 ERA, 13.8 K/9, and 3.14 K/BB rate over 14 1/3 combined innings at Double-A and high-A ball.  They aren’t exactly dominant numbers for Puk, though between his long layoff and perhaps some bad luck (four homers in those 14 1/3 IP), the A’s are clearly encouraged enough to give Puk his first taste of Triple-A competition.  The hard-throwing Puk would very likely have been in the big leagues last season had he avoided injury, and is still on track to make his MLB debut this season if he stays healthy.  While the A’s will surely be as cautious as possible with one of their top young hurlers, Puk has the potential to be a very intriguing addition to Oakland’s bullpen or perhaps even the rotation as the A’s continue to chase another postseason berth.
  • In AL West news from earlier today, the Angels officially released Matt Harvey, and the Mariners acquired righty Matt Magill in a trade with the Twins.

A.J. Puk, Jesus Luzardo Impress In Rehab Debuts

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A pair of highly talented Athletics lefties returned to competitive action yesterday after long layoffs. Prospects A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo each began injury rehab assignments last night, appearing for the High-A Stockton Ports.

That news is quite promising on its own. Better still for the A’s, the southpaw duo looked to be in fine form. As Tyler Maun of MiLB.com writes, both hurlers impressed in 33-pitch piggyback appearances.

Puk came out blazing in his first competitive work since the 2017 season, working in the upper nineties with his acclaimed heater. He ultimately ran up four strikeouts in two frames while permitting one run on one hit — a home run from highly regarded Giants prospect Heliot Ramos.

It’s excellent to see that Puk has regained his arm speed since undergoing Tommy John surgery. He underwent the procedure in April of 2011, temporarily halting what was likely to be a quick run through the Oakland farm system. Puk, who went sixth overall in the 2016 draft, had been expected to make his way to the majors early in the 2018 campaign after an impressive showing in MLB camp that year.

The story isn’t altogether different for Luzardo, who featured in a similar role in the spring of 2019. He also had hopes of a swift rise to the majors dashed by injury. In his case, shoulder troubles caused the team to order a shutdown late in camp. The organization understandably set a cautious course for the 21-year-old hurler.

Last night, Luzardo spun three scoreless frames. He struck out two, with Ramos among the victims, while logging 24 strikes in his 33 pitches. That’s efficient work from the precocious hurler, who is known most for his exceptional feel and command over his three-pitch arsenal.

Where things go from here will depend upon quite a few factors, including the way that Puk and Luzardo recover from their first big tests. There’s little question that they’ll be tasked with multiple additional rehab starts while they build up their pitch counts and the club evaluates their readiness. But it’s hard not to dream on successive MLB debuts as soon as early July.

“I just know that they’re going to be throwing pretty consistently now until the end of the year,” Stockton pitching coach Chris Smith says. “The gloves are off. They want to see those kids hit the ground running.”

That’s an encouraging takeaway for A’s fans. These exciting young pitchers still have hurdles to clear before reaching the majors, but that goal is now clearly in sight. Adding them to a generally subpar rotation mix would completely change the complexion of the Oakland pitching staff. Whether that’ll occur remains to be seen, but the A’s ought to have a good sense before the trade deadline.

A.J. Puk, Jesus Luzardo Set To Begin Minor-League Rehab Stints

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Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, A’s lefties A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo will each begin a rehab stint on Tuesday with High-A Stockton. Puk will be making his first live-game mound appearance since undergoing Tommy John Surgery last April, while Luzardo, who’d been dealing with left shoulder soreness, will appear in an official game for the first time since last August.

Puk, a 6’7 lefty who was the sixth overall pick in the 2016 draft, had laid waste to the minors before his injury in the Spring of last season. His “double-plus” fastball and “vicious” (adjectives per Baseball America) slider allowed him to post double-digit strikeout rates in each of his three minor-league stops, culminating in a 61-inning stint for Double-A Midland in which the U of Florida product set down 86 batters in just 64 innings. It’ll surely be a lengthy rehab process for the projected ace, though it appears the club will use him in relief should he crack the majors this season.

Luzardo, a 21-year-old Peruvian-born hurler, was acquired in mid-2017 from Washington with Blake Treinen for relievers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. Little known at the time of the deal, Luzardo has rocketed up prospect lists after dominating performances of his own the last two seasons. Baseball America ranked him as the top lefty in the minors after 2018, waxing especially thorough on his changeup, which the site ranks as one of the minors’ best. Shoulder injuries are always cause for serious concern, but if Luzardo can make it through his first few outings unscathed, he’ll be a strong candidate to crack what’s been a middling A’s rotation thus far.

Latest On The Athletics’ Injured Pitchers

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The A’s are on a six-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 10 games, pulling into a tie with the Red Sox for the second AL wild card slot.  While things are looking up in Oakland right now, the team could also get some reinforcements on the way as some of their many injured pitchers begin to return to the fold.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has updates on several of the notable names on Oakland’s IL, including the status of star left-hander Sean Manaea.  After undergoing shoulder surgery last September, Manaea has looked to be well ahead of his projected recovery timeline, and could be back with the A’s as early as July.  In the latest step ni his rehab, he told Slusser that he’ll throw two bullpen sessions this week, and will begin to throw his slider during these bullpens.  Provided all goes well, Manaea will move on to facing live batters the following week.

Both Jharel Cotton and A.J. Puk are on the mend after undergoing Tommy John surgeries in 2018, with Cotton currently on a rehab assignment and roughly targeted for a mid-June return to the majors, while Puk recently threw a simulated game and is looking like a potential return in July.  Since both pitchers will be on innings limits, however, manager Bob Melvin told Slusser and other reporters that the Athletics haven’t ruled out using Cotton and Puk as relievers when they return.

Despite all of the injuries and second-string nature of its rotation, Oakland has received surprisingly solid contributions from its starting pitchers, both in the team’s run to the wild card game last season and thus far in 2019.  Frankie Montas, Mike Fiers, and Brett Anderson have made the most starts for the A’s this year, with Chris Bassitt and Daniel Mengden looking okay in limited action, while Marco Estrada and Aaron Brooks have struggled.  (Estrada is currently on the IL himself with a lower back strain, and said he hopes to begin playing catch next week.)

As much as this group looks in need of an upgrade that Cotton or Puk could provide, there isn’t any guarantee that either youngster would be able to pitch well as a starter in the wake of their long recovery; it isn’t uncommon, of course, for pitchers of any age to be ineffective in their first few months back from Tommy John surgery.  Looking long-term, the A’s also obviously don’t want to overexert Cotton or Puk for risk of more injury, so strategic usage out of a bullpen would be a better way to both manage workload and potentially also keep both pitchers in the mix for high-leverage situations.

This assumes, however, that Cotton or Puk will be factors at the Major League level at all, since Melvin noted “We’re not just going to bring guys here just because they’re healthy. They have to perform. We have to think there’s a role for them.”  Cotton has a 4.95 ERA over only 158 1/3 career MLB innings, though all of that action came as a starting pitcher.  Puk has yet to pitch beyond even the Double-A level, so despite his lofty top-100 prospect status, he’ll need to make a big impact to work his way into Oakland’s late-season plans.

Injured Athletics Hurlers Making Progress

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Several injured Athletics pitchers are on the march back to the majors, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Whether they’ll make it in time to help draw the team back into the postseason race remains to be seen.

Jharel Cotton is furthest along among those sidelined with long-term maladies. He’s slated to launch a rehab assignment on Friday in his effort to return from Tommy John surgery, which means he could be pitching from a big-league mound by mid-June.

The 27-year-old Cotton hasn’t appeared in competitive action since the 2017 campaign, his first full go at the MLB level. He managed only a 5.58 ERA in 129 innings, with 28 long balls largely to blame. Still, he has long been seen as a potentially solid back-of-the-rotation big-league hurler.

There’s an even more talented trio of lefties also grinding through the rehab process as well. Former first-rounder A.J. Puk just threw his first simulated game, which is quite a notable step in his own TJ recovery. He could be an option as soon as July, Slusser indicates, with Sean Manaea (shoulder surgery) and Jesus Luzardo (rotator cuff strain) potentially being available after the trade deadline.

This glance at the injured list serves as a reminder of how much talent the Oakland organization has been forced to go without in the early going. Unfortunately, it seems as if the club will need to claw back into the race before it receives much in the way of reinforcement.

The rotation hasn’t been the sole cause of the A’s slow start, but there are certainly some issues. The three veteran offseason signees haven’t exactly thrived. Outside of his no-hitter, Mike Fiers has struggled. Marco Estrada did the same before going down with an injury. Brett Anderson has been solid but is hardly a dominant rotation piece. There are mixed results otherwise. Frankie Montas is pitching quite well and Chris Bassitt has shown some promise in a four-start sample, but Aaron Brooks has been homer-prone and Daniel Mengden’s first start of the year didn’t go well.

Athletics’ A.J. Puk Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The A’s announced on Wednesday that top pitching prospect A.J. Puk underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the procedure on the highly touted southpaw, who will now be out for the entirety of the 2018 season.

The news isn’t a shock at this point, as Puk was originally recommended for Tommy John surgery back in late March after initially complaining of biceps soreness. Further testing revealed the problem to be ligament-related, and two doctors recommended that he undergo the season-ending procedure.

Puk, 23 later this month, was the sixth overall pick in the 2016 draft out of the University of Florida. The former Gators ace quickly ascended through the Athletics’ minor league system, tossing a combined 125 innings between Class-A Advanced and Double-A last season. In that time, he logged a 4.03 ERA with a gaudy 13.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 while displaying above-average ground-ball tendencies. Entering the season, Puk was touted as one of the game’s top overall prospects, with Baseball America, Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus all tabbing him 30th overall, while MLB.com pegged him 32nd. ESPN’s Keith Law was the most bullish on Puk, ranking him 13th overall.

The towering 6’7″, 220-pound lefty showed well in Spring Training, working to a 3.38 ERA in 10 2/3 frames in big league camp and prompting some to speculate upon whether he could be an option for the Opening Day rotation — or at the very least a candidate to join the starting mix early on in the 2018 season. Instead, the A’s will now see their top prospect lose a full year of development, though it’s not difficult to envision him making an impact late in the 2019 season if his rehab goes according to plan.

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