The Oakland A’s had plenty of reason to celebrate on Saturday. They managed to walk off the Astros, keeping their fading playoff hopes alive for another day while Houston was unable to win the AL West on their field. However, all was not positive, as Elvis Andrus was injured while scoring the game winning run.
According to manager Bob Melvin, Andrus felt a pop in his ankle while rounding third en route to scoring the winning run. While he was able to get to home, he will be undergoing x-rays to determine if there is any damage.
Melvin said Elvis felt a pop in his left ankle coming around third. He's getting x-rays.
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) September 25, 2021
Oakland A’s hope Elvis Andrus’ ankle injury nothing serious
In theory, Andrus would not be difficult to replace. His .241/.290/.318 batting line in 537 plate appearances entering Saturday is hardly the type of production that would be missed. Likewise, the A’s would not miss his defense, as he has cost them nine runs at short this season.
The problem is that the A’s do not have really have another major league caliber option at short. Vimael Machin may be the next man up if Andrus is forced to miss time, but he has not exactly proven that he can handle major league pitching. At this point, Machin is starting to look like a Quad-A player.
While four other players, aside from Machin, have made an appearance at short, but none of them are likely a solution for the next week. Matt Chapman, Tony Kemp, Josh Harrison, and Chad Pinder have at least one appearance at the position, with Pinder having the most experience. While that could work as a temporary solution, the A’s may not want to trust the position to those options.
Elvis Andrus may not be the most exciting option at shortstop. However, if he is seriously injured, he could be a big loss for the Oakland A’s.