A’s Anderson Needs Surgery?
By Joseph Lopez
A’s fans, it’s definitely time to hit the panic button.
As reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, A’s young lefty Brett Anderson left the team to head back to Oakland to get his left-elbow checked out. Oakland’s already depleted starting rotation is now facing the possibility of losing Anderson, 23, to yet another injury plagued season.
The A’s entered the season with one of the best starting rotations in baseball, but injuries to Dallas Braden, Brandon McCarthy, Rich Harden, and Tyson Ross, have derailed the A’s this season.
Braden is out for the remainder of the season, while McCarthy and Ross will likely miss one more month of action. Harden, who has been sidelined all season with a muscle strain under his right arm, is making his way back, but the team is still taking it slow with the oft-injured flame-thrower.
Oakland skipper Bob Geren hasn’t said much about Anderson’s trip back to Oakland to get his elbow check-out, and that could be an indication that the A’s are not quite sure what’s wrong with Anderson. In 13 starts this season, Anderson has gone 3-6 with a 4.00 ERA.
The A’s young ace noted that his velocity has dropped 3-4 mph, and that’s never a good sign. He believes that Tommy John Surgery is in his future.
If the A’s do in fact, end up losing Anderson to injury, the team will have a very difficult time keeping up with the rest the AL West. The Rangers have opened up a 7.0 game lead over the last-place A’s, and a rotation that does not include Anderson does not bode well for this A’s team. Slusser notes that Bobby Cramer will likely get the nod to take Anderson’s spot in the rotation, should Anderson fall victim to yet another injury.
An injury to Anderson would result in yet another Oakland pitcher going down this season. When you look back at the start of the season, especially with all the promise and hope that surrounded this season’s A’s team, the A’s should not be in the position they are in today. Even with all the added depth this season, the A’s are yet again left to battle injuries and inconsistencies on offense.