Oakland Athletics Injury News: Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes

The Oakland Athletics were able to squeak by Max Scherzer, Prince Fielder, and the Detroit Tigers 4-3 thanks to a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 12th inning by third baseman Josh Donaldson. The A’s have now won nine straight games, but the win may have come at a price. Two key outfielders in Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes suffered injuries, but thankfully the early news on Cespedes sounds good.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s start with the “worse” news coming out of Oakland. Crisp left the game against the Tigers with a strained left groin, and it sounds like Crisp is headed for the disabled list. Keep an eye out for any roster moves from the Athletics, but the A’s should be able to deal with  a DL trip from just one outfielder. Although Crisp has been off to a great start this year with a 1.095 OPS, the Athletics have plenty of depth in the outfield and can use Seth Smith more in the interim. Michael Taylor is a big candidate for a call-up if Crisp is indeed placed on the DL with that groin injury.

Cespedes’s outlook seemed a little bit iffy at the beginning, but now it appears clear that Cespedes will be able to avoid a DL trip. He took a rough slide into second, but he was able to stay in the game for a few innings until his name was called at the dish once again in the 11th. The Athletics gave Cespedes the night off, and they took him in for an X-ray.

CSN Bay Area’s Casey Pratt reported that Cespedes’s X-rays on his left hand came in negative, so consider the 27-year-old outfielder day-to-day. I expect him to miss today’s game, and that would mean a starting outfield trio of Smith, Chris Young, and Josh Reddick. Cespedes has had a rough start to the season batting at the Mendoza line and posting an OBP under .300. However, he has flashed plenty of power with three home runs already through 11 games.