The Oakland Athletics have placed right-handed pitcher Michael Wuertz on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, according to San Francisco Chronicle writer Susan Slusser. Wuertz, is supposedly on the DL due to a thumb injury, but is expected back after sitting out for 15 days.
Oakland’s pitching has taken a bit of a hit in the second-half, as the team has seen its pitching staff struggle since the All-Star break. Wuertz, 32, has made 34 appearances this season for the Athletics, putting in 31.1 innings of work, while compiling a 4.88 ERA. He still strikes out a ton of batters, as evidenced by his 30 strike outs this season, but he hasn’t put together a strong season like he did back in 2009.
In ’09, Wuertz spent his first year in Oakland by going 6-1 with a 2.63 ERA. He also managed to record 102 strikeouts in just 78.2 innings of work that season. He followed up that year with a sub-par performance in 2010, going 2-3 with a 4.31 ERA.
Wuertz recently allowed four earned runs in his last appearance before landing on the DL against the Minnesota Twins.