PHOENIX -- Another day, another key player for the Athletics lost to injury.
J.T. Ginn landed on the injured list before Wednesday’s 15-5 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field, joining right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. and hot-hitting infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, who were placed on the IL Tuesday.
The injury bug is reaching brutal levels with the A’s, who now have a season-high 11 players on the IL. That includes All-Star slugger Brent Rooker, who is out for the season due to knee surgery, reigning AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz, Opening Day starter Luis Severino, dynamic utility player Zack Gelof, high-leverage reliever Justin Sterner and Gold Glove-caliber center fielder Denzel Clarke.
In Ginn, whose IL placement with a right middle finger blister is retroactive to July 18, the A’s lose their top starting pitcher. Since moving into the rotation on April 10, Ginn is 8-6 with a 3.34 ERA in 19 starts and 96 strikeouts across 102 1/3 innings pitched as a starter this season.
“To lose our guy that has thrown the ball the best this season, it was a difficult decision,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “The blister has made some progress. But at this point, it wasn’t enough to say that he’s going to be ready, even if we pushed him back. We’re looking at the rest of the season. If we brought him back quickly and it reopens, it’s a longer timeframe. Unfortunate to not have him in the rotation, because he was the guy who was leading it.”
Ginn’s blister developed after his last outing on Saturday, when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a win over the Nationals. The A’s are hopeful that the 27-year-old right-hander will be ready to return when first eligible around the first week of August.
As for his spot in the rotation going forward, that remains up in the air. Mason Barnett was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday and could potentially fill Ginn’s next turn in the rotation, which would come Saturday in Minnesota, though the A’s will wait to see how their bullpen usage plays out before then.
It’s clear that the injury pileup has had an effect on the A’s recent freefall. After entering play on June 20 with a .500 record (38-38), the A’s have now lost an MLB-worst 21 of 26 games since then, falling a season-worst 16 games under .500 (43-59). During that stretch, Kurtz, Gelof, Jacob Wilson and Tyler Soderstrom have all missed significant time, with Wilson and Soderstrom returning from the IL just before the All-Star break.
What’s left of the pitching staff has struggled mightily, as the 6.46 ERA posted by A’s pitchers over the previous 15 games entering the day was the worst in the Majors during that span. On Wednesday, promising rookie Gage Jump was holding strong as he took a 2-2 tie into the fifth. But after reaching an 0-2 count on Gabriel Moreno with two outs, the left-hander proceeded to allow a run to score on a wild pitch, then surrendered two more on a solo homer by Moreno and an RBI double by James McCann, finishing with six runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings.
From there, the rookie duo of Yunior Tur (A’s No. 27 prospect) and Hayden Juenger, who between the two bring a total of five games of big league experience, combined to allow nine runs in three innings of relief.
The bullpen might be the most debilitated unit on this team. As currently constructed, Hogan Harris and José Suarez are the only two relievers down there with any sort of track record of big league success.
“It’s challenging,” Kotsay said. “You look at the bullpen collectively, and there’s just not a lot of experience. There’s not a lot of guys with track records that can come in and shut down an inning. We’re going through a tough stretch here of trying to find those guys. We’re not going to stop trying. We’ll continue to make moves.”
Still without a series victory since June 12-14, the A’s are reeling and struggling just to find healthy bodies at this point. They’ll get an off-day Thursday before starting a three-game series Friday against the Twins at Target Field, where there is at least some hope that Kurtz might be able to return at some point during the weekend.