Kuroda-Grauer’s night turned from a milestone to a scare in a hurry Monday at Chase Field.
Just three innings after he crushed his first big league homer - a Statcast-projected 416-foot solo blast in the top of the second off Arizona starter Mitch Bratt - the Athletics rookie took a hard foul ball off his groin area and dropped to the ground in obvious pain. He stayed down for a few minutes while an A’s trainer checked on him, and the club later said he left with a testicular contusion.
Manager Mark Kotsay helped Kuroda-Grauer to his feet, and the 23-year-old stayed in the game long enough to finish the at-bat with a single to center field. Even then, the discomfort was hard to miss, with Kuroda-Grauer hunched over on first base. He returned to third base for the bottom of the fifth, but when the A’s went back on defense in the sixth, Donovan Walton had taken over.
Any extended absence would be a rough hit for a club already dealing with a long list of injuries. Kuroda-Grauer has been one of the few bright spots during a brutal stretch for Oakland, which entered Monday having dropped 19 of its past 23 games.
The rookie’s start has been electric since his big league debut on June 29. Rated the A’s No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline, he added two more hits Monday and is now batting .417 (25-for-60) through his first 16 games. Those 25 hits match Eddie Murphy (1912) for the most by an A’s player over that span.
Even with Kuroda-Grauer sidelined late, the A’s still opened this six-game road trip on a positive note. They broke the game open with a three-run seventh, capped by Jeff McNeil’s pinch-hit go-ahead two-run single. Tommy White, the A’s No. 7 prospect, kept the inning alive with a hustling infield single - his fourth hit of the night - right before McNeil delivered.
In Other News...
As Forced Into Another Painful Roster Shakeup After Brutal Injury Night
The Athletics were forced into another roster shuffle after a rough stretch on the injury front, placing right-hander Mark Leiter on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 19 with a right hip impingement and sending infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer to the 10-day injured list. To help cover the openings, Oakland recalled right-hander Hayden Juenger from Triple-A Las Vegas and brought back infielder Max Muncy, who had been optioned earlier this month.
For an As club already trying to piece together innings and infield depth, the timing is especially unwelcome. Juenger gives Oakland another fresh arm after arriving in a trade, while Muncy returns for a second stint with the big-league club, but the larger concern is how quickly the roster keeps changing around injuries that have already forced the team to keep adjusting on the fly. [Read more 🡒]
Another A's IL Move Leaves This Thin Roster In A Tough Spot
The Athletics roster took another hit this week when right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. landed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 19 with a right hip impingement, while infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer also went on the 10-day IL after surgery. For a club already working with little margin for error, the timing only sharpens the strain on the depth chart and forces the front office to keep shuffling pieces just to cover innings and infield reps.
Hayden Juenger and Max Muncy were brought back up in the corresponding moves, giving Oakland a couple of fresh options as it tries to patch things together. Leiters absence is especially frustrating because the hip issue has now surfaced again this season, and with the trade deadline approaching, every missed outing matters for a pitcher whose value was already under pressure. [Read more 🡒]