TODAY: “Ten days is not going to work as far as him being back,” manager Bob Melvin said about Puk’s status. Melvin told Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters that Puk has yet to begin throwing.
APRIL 8: The Athletics have placed A.J. Puk on the 10-day injured list with strained left biceps, the team announced. In corresponding moves, Trevor Rosenthal was moved to the 60-day injured list and Deolis Guerra has been selected from the alternate site.
There’s not much to say about Puk landing back on the injured list after just one appearance. The towering southpaw has struggled to stay healthy. He missed all of the shortened 2020 season because of a shoulder strain. Hopefully, this stint on the IL will be a short one for the 25-year-old, who remains one of the most promising arms in the A’s organization and a potential difference-maker for the 2021 season.
The Rosenthal news is no less dispiriting, though given the recent diagnosis, it was to be expected. Rosenthal is likely to need thoracic outlet surgery, which carries a recovery time of at least 12 weeks. The A’s signed Rosenthal to a one-year, $11MM deal this winter to serve as the replacement for departed-closer Liam Hendriks.
Guerra, 31, is a right-hander out of Venezuela. He made nine appearances for the Phillies last year while previously suiting up for the Brewers, Angels, and Pirates. Since 2015 he has made 83 total appearances spanning 103 innings with a 4.81 ERA/4.78 FIP. It has been a couple of years since his best showing with the Angels from 2016-17, however.
Is Puk just destined to be one of those guys…all the talent in the world but just can’t keep healthy?
Is Puk another way of spelling Harden?
Rich Harden! Man, I love when people cite these guys I’ve almost completely forgotten about. Can’t believe it’s been TEN YEARS since he pitched, holy cow.
Rich Harden pitched for several years before a freak injury started his spiral.
Your evidence?
It’s so wild to see the amount of injuries in the game today compared to 20 years ago or so. Is it the players? Is it the teams being more cautious? Every day there’s another handful of players on the IL.
Pepperidge farms remembers
My favorite thing to come out of that farm has always been Milano cookies.
they are certainly quite good
Take the cornball comments back to Reddit
Nah, its always been like this.
Steroids made it pretty easy to stay healthy
Its evolution. Players in all sports are bigger, faster, stronger now then back then. Velocity is a huge factor in pitcher injuries. Kids are taught throwing is better than pitching if u want to make it to mlb. Also baseball players back then played other sports and rested during the offseason. Now from little league on kids play baseball year round with showcase leagues etc. By the time these kids get drafted their ucls are compromised. Its sad and something needs to be done about it.
Too many pitchers are throwers, not pitchers anymore. Everyone wants to throw high 90s gas, or mixing too much gas with too much offspeed stuff. Can’t do that unless you are one of the 1% who can, like Nolan Ryan, yet everyone keeps trying.
Lay off the speed, beat the hitter with the mental. Greg Maddux knew.
This is dead on in my area. 6000 kids have come through my school, only 2 were ever drafted. The first round draft pick never made it to the show. The late round draft pick just made it.
Should have said the second was drafted. Playing in the low minors now.
“Juiced” balls, smaller fields of play, lighter bats, stronger quicker hitters and peds have made pitching to contact nearly useless. The only counter left for pitchers is velocity. The less time a batter has to react the less chance if him barreling up a pitch. I really think we are seeing what the limit of the human body is in regards to throwing an object 95 mph+ 1,000’s of times. Also seem to be seeing more upper torso injuries that may be a result of swinging at 95+mph pitches hundreds of times.
Tell that to Dallas Keuchel, kyle Hendricks, and Brad Keller. They have all been pretty successful. There’s less of a chance you’ll make it to the show if you are a pitch to contact guy, but there are plenty of people who are still useful that play that way.
Puk’s recent outing looked promising and it seemed like he was getting on track….and now this….dude just can’t stay healthy.
This season is a disaster.
Not even close to being true. Do you even follow the A’s, bro? Monster second halves are all but guaranteed. A 1-10 start will be nullified by a 30-10 run later on.
Jefferies, Kaprelian and Holmes are all MLB-ready and waiting….
Spot on my UK buddy! Go A’s!!!
Bring up Kefferies p. plz.
The beat goes on.
Sometimes it’s an unpleasant beat.
that pen is in trouble if Guerra is there
When Guerra came up with the Pirates I really thought he could be someone helpful at first, he looked good through his first few appearances and then… not so much afterwards. He did OK with the Angels but this is what he should be: depth to be used only if necessary.
When the A’s drafted PUK I didn’t want him . I wanted Kyle Lewis . Now I don’t have the information to make picks past the first round . I still do better than the. A’s in the first round. PUK for some reason I saw him as Todd Van Popple . Yes Todd is a right-hand pitcher . Same situations , and Todd might’ve pitched more than PUK will ever . Trevor is a 11 mil wash .
They nailed chapman and olson but its been tough sledding since than. The MLB draft is the most brutal of them all man
Puk was supposed to go #1 in that draft, but health concerns dropped him to #6, which the A’s were delighted to see at the time, but it turns out the health concerns were legit.
Lewis is meh, Laureano is better and he wasn’t a 1st rounder – I’d rather have an ace SP, tbh that draft class was pretty poor and if you’re an A’s fan, you’d still rather have Puk than say, Riley Pint, Braxton Garrett or Cal Quantrill. Puk is young and there’s plenty of time to get his mechanics righted so he’s not breaking down all the time.
Omfg. It never ends
Another thing is this is on the A’s . PUK hardly pitched in spring games . Why was he called up to pitch in a high leverage game ? I wanted him to build up arm strength in the camp . Then throw in games in Stockton till ready .
saw him vs the dodgers, he’s tall but not a big guy. Maybe he needs some bulk
Puk is 6’7″, 248.
Randy Johnson 6’10”, 225.
Wainwright 6’7″,230.
Just tossing it out there.
So? Nearly every SP has to gain weight to keep up with an MLB workload. 2 HOF guys being different doesn’t mean he 100% doesn’t need to gain muscle or mass to survive.
Why do people insist on using HOF’ers to make a point? It Doesn’t help the discussion or puk
Go be Randy Johnson. you got it coach! Just needed you to tell me it was ok
From the MLB.com site:
“Rosenthal, meanwhile, had surgery to remove his first rib, conduct a pec minor release and a scalene release after being diagnosed with severe neurovascular compression. He was placed on the 60-day IL, and a near-term return to the mound is in serious doubt.”
Seems like a bit more serious than originally stated???
Nope. Removing a rib is standard procedure for surgery for this type.
did the angels sell their physical trainer to the a’s?
I was really happy to see him bounce back last year but this is a big blow. He throws some serious heat but seems to pay for it in injuries