Oakland A's Camp Notes: Mixed Injury News

The Oakland A’s got mixed results from the X-ray machine on Thursday and dropped a close contest to the San Francisco Giants in the first game of the annual Bay Bridge preseason series. The A’s learned on Thursday that shortstop Bobby Crosby’s injured wrist was not broken, but they also discovered that their leading spring hitter, Hiram Bocachica, will miss 6-8 weeks with a fracture in his right wrist.

Crosby’s left wrist, which was struck by a Gary Glover pitch on Wednesday afternoon, remained swollen and discolored on Thursday. He is considered day-to-day and is possible for Opening Day. He isn’t expected to play on Friday in the second game of the Bay Bridge Series. Bocachica wasn’t as lucky as Crosby, however. The non-roster invitee had played extremely well this spring and was in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak when he was hit by an errant pitch in the 7th inning of Wednesday’s game. Bocachica discovered on Thursday that his right wrist had been fractured and that he won’t be able to resume baseball activities for at least six weeks.

The injury is a big blow for Bocachica, who had impressed this spring with his bat and flashy glove in the outfield. Although he wasn’t likely to make the team out of spring training (with the A’s decision to carry 12 pitchers, there wasn’t an open roster spot for a utility player), Bocachica had put himself in a good position to be recalled to the major leagues if the A’s lost a player to injury or they decided to go with only 11 pitchers. Bocachica faced a similar situation last season when he was sent to AAA-Tacoma by Seattle after a strong spring but was eventually recalled to the big leagues and spent much of the second half of the regular season with the Mariners. He could still be in line for a mid-season promotion if the A’s shuffle their roster at that point.

On a more minor injury front, the A’s announced on Thursday that starter Rich Harden will miss his scheduled start on Friday with a blister on his pitching hand. Fifth starter candidate Kirk Saarloos will get the start instead. Saarloos was originally scheduled to pitch on Thursday after the other candidate for the fifth starter spot, Seth Etherton, got the start.

Instead, on Thursday Etherton was followed by a slew of A’s relievers, including Kiko Calero, Ricardo Rincon, Britt Reames and Huston Street. Etherton allowed five runs in five innings pitched, but Calero, Rincon, Reames and Street combined to toss four scoreless innings before Street allowed the game-winning run with two outs in the 10th inning. Street was in his second inning of work.

The A’s banged out 12 hits against Giants pitching, including a two-run homerun by Giant-killer Eric Byrnes and three hits by Eric Chavez. Keith Ginter also doubled and Nick Swisher added a 2-4 day at the plate. Oakland will take on San Francisco again on Friday at SBC Park at 7:15 pm.