WEST SACRAMENTO – In the midst of their worst stretch of the season, the bigger concern for the Athletics quickly shifted to the status of their bright young star shortstop Jacob Wilson.
In the bottom of the third inning of Tuesday’s 7-5 loss to the Angels, Wilson was hit by an 85.9 mph sinker from starter Kyle Hendricks near his left wrist/forearm area. Though he appeared to be in noticeable pain, the rookie took first base and remained in the game. Two innings later, however, Wilson was removed for pinch-hitter Max Schuemann to lead off the fifth inning with what the A’s announced as a left forearm contusion.
Wilson still managed to make an impressive play on a groundout in the hole by Taylor Ward in the fourth, but he immediately winced after making the leaping throw to first base. Just before his spot in the lineup came up in the fifth, Wilson struggled to hold a strong grip as he grabbed a bat and attempted a practice swing in the A’s dugout.
“It didn’t feel great trying to squeeze the glove there,” Wilson said. “I was just trying to go out there and make plays.”
After the game, manager Mark Kotsay indicated that X-rays on Wilson’s forearm came back negative.
“It’s a bruise,” Kotsay said. “He stayed in the game and played defense. Went to go hit and didn’t feel he could fire a quality swing, so we removed him from the game.”
For the time being, Wilson is considered day to day, which is a sigh of relief for both him and the A’s, considering his impact as one of the top rookies in the game so far this season.
It is unlikely that Wilson plays in Wednesday’s game against the Angels. A better idea of how many games Wilson might be out will come once the swelling around his left forearm goes down.
“I’m just trying to get the swelling down and see how fast I can come back,” Wilson said. “I’ll just ice it, check in with the trainers and, hopefully, be back in the next couple of days.”
Losing Wilson for any amount of extended time would be an obvious blow. He was the overwhelming runaway favorite in MLB.com’s first Rookie of the Year poll that was released on Tuesday morning, and with good reason. Entering Tuesday, Wilson led all qualified American League rookies with an .861 OPS and ranked second among all qualified AL hitters with a .343 batting average. He also led AL rookies in hits (62), doubles (10) and RBIs (26) and was tied for the lead in homers (five).
Should Wilson require a stint on the injured list, the A’s would likely turn to Schuemann, who filled in admirably at shortstop last season when Wilson landed on the IL. A’s No. 6 prospect Max Muncy, who made the A’s Opening Day roster out of Spring Training before getting optioned to the Minors last month, and Darell Hernaiz are other current options at Triple-A Las Vegas who could come up to help fill the position.
Wilson, for his part, is not too worried that a long-term absence is in the cards.
“It’s just the swelling that has to go down,” Wilson said. “Once that goes down, I’m sure I’ll be ready to go. No concern at all.”
With or without Wilson, the A’s are desperate for some type of slump buster as they have now lost a season-high seven consecutive games.
On Tuesday, they carried an early 4-1 lead on the strength of fourth-inning homers by Shea Langeliers and rookie Nick Kurtz (MLB Pipeline’s No. 14 overall prospect) off Angels starter Kyle Hendricks.
A huge momentum shift took place in the fifth. After cruising through four innings, Gunnar Hoglund (A’s No. 14 prospect) ran into trouble, starting with a 12-pitch battle against Luis Rengifo to lead off the frame that resulted in a single. Four batters later, Hoglund surrendered a game-tying three-run homer to Yoán Moncada.
Pulled one batter after that, Hoglund, making his fourth Major League start, ended up charged with five runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
“The at-bat from Rengifo was a great at-bat,” Kotsay said. “It put a lot of pressure on Hog. The Moncada at-bat, he got behind 2-0 and didn’t execute a fastball down and away. It’s one pitch tonight, really, that you look back and say it changed the momentum of the game.”
