The Oakland Athletics have placed Paul Blackburn on the 15-day injured list Monday with a stress reaction of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. The severity of Blackburn’s injury isn’t clear, but he did struggle in his start on Friday against the Seattle Mariners, giving up seven runs over four-plus innings. Blackburn was on cruise control with a scoreless first three innings on 44 pitches. A pair of walks to being the fourth began a five-run frame for the Mariners. expected to get the start on Thursday against the Houston Astros but left-hander Easton Lucas was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas as a corresponding move.
The Oakland A’s placed RHP Paul Blackburn on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 11 with a stress reaction of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot and recalled LHP Easton Lucas from Triple-A Las Vegas.
— Oakland A’s Communications (@AthleticsPR) May 13, 2024
Paul Blackburn Lands on Injured List
The A’s are a better team than last season. They head into the week sitting in third place in the American League West with a record of 19-21. The solid start is generating buzz as one of baseball’s early surprise teams. Oakland has an offense whose 55 home runs through 42 games are the fourth-most in the majors. As for Blackburn, he didn’t allow a run through his first 22 1/3 innings. He set an Oakland record for the longest season-opening scoreless streak by a starting pitcher. However, Blackburn has been more hittable of late since that scoreless stretch, allowing 31 earned runs in his 26 2/3 innings, with at least six runs in two of his past three outings.
The Athletics Rotation without Blackburn
Blackburn’s absence leaves the A’s starting rotation with JP Sears, Joey Estes, Alex Wood and Ross Stripling. Lucas was promoted on Wednesday and made two appearances with the Als. The left-hander allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. He’s 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA and .699 opponents OPS in 11 games. He made his major league debut with Oakland last season, compiling a 9.00 RRA and .940 opponents OPS in eight relief appearances with the A’s overall.
Estes, Oakland’s No. 11 prospect, delivered in his first major league win on Saturday. He retired 12 of his final 13 batters in his first start of the season. Estes went on to finish after five innings on 61 pitches and allowing one run on two hits and no walks with five strikeouts. The A’s see Estes as a long-term piece of their future. He will likely stay in the rotation after Blackburn and Joe Boyle out. A’s manager Mark Kotsay revealed that Wood was bothered by a shoulder injury during his start on Sunday. Wood has up five runs on four hits and one walk with one strikeout. His velocity was well down compared to his season-long average of 90.5 mph.
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