A’s place Paul Blackburn on IL
Foot problem knocks out the righty
The Athletics got some bad injury news Monday afternoon. The club announced that they’ve placed right-handed starter Paul Blackburn on the IL with a stress reaction in his right foot:
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
This is a big blow to the A’s starting pitching. Blackburn has been a bit up and down this season but still leads the team in ERA (4.11) and strikeouts (36). He’s coming off an outing that saw him yield seven runs to the Mariners and one would have to imagine the foot problem popped up during that poor outing. We don’t yet know the timeline for Blackburn’s return but it could be a while until we see the 2022 All-Star back on the mound for the Green & Gold.
The injuries to the club’s starting pitching is really starting to pile up. Along with Blackburn, rookie Joe Boyle is on the IL and lefty Alex Wood seems to be a candidate if his back issue doesn’t get better soon. And that’s just to the Opening Day starting rotation. Depth options have dwindled significantly for the squad. Ken Waldichuk and Freddy Tarnok seem like they might miss the season, Luis Medina hasn’t begun a rehab assignment, and Osvaldo Bido developed a blister in his first start with the team. The club really can’t afford more injuries to the starting pitching.
Replacing Blackburn on the active roster is reliever Easton Lucas. The rookie reliever was only just demoted on Saturday to make room on the roster for starter Joey Estes. With the injuries to the starting pitching Estes might be up for more than a start or two so the club elected to recall Lucas. Because of an injury the team didn’t have to wait the usual 10 days to bring Lucas back to the squad. Lucas struggled in two outings for the club but has been above average in Triple-A. The team will be hoping the second go-around produces better results from Lucas.