The Oakland A’s were going to need to make a move to bring Jordan Diaz to the active roster. It turns out that Ramon Laureano was the domino to fall.
Diaz was officially brought to the majors on Sunday. To clear room on the active roster, the A’s placed Laureano on the Injured List with a strained right hamstring.
Difficult 2022 season could be over for Ramon Laureano
This is just the latest setback in what has been a rough 2022 campaign for Laureano. He had missed the first part of the season due to the leftover games from his PED suspension in 2021. Laureano was then sidelined for approximately three weeks with a strained oblique before suffering this latest injury.
He did not look right upon his return. Laureano had just four hits in his 40 plate appearances after he returned, striking out 15 times. That was a capstone on what had been a somewhat disappointing year as Laureano had produced a .211/.287/.376 batting line with 13 homers and 18 doubles in his 383 plate appearances. While his 11 steals helped his fantasy value, his 92 OPS+ was the worst of his career.
If Laureano is able to return at the minimum allotted time, he would have five games left in the regular season. Any setback or slight twinge would put the rest of his 2022 campaign in jeopardy as there simply would not be enough time for him to get ready.
That may be the end result regardless. The A’s have to focus on the future, and a healthy Laureano will be part of that. Even if he ends up being traded, either during the offseason or at the 2023 trade deadline, they need to make sure he is healthy. Shutting him down for the rest of the year would help.
The Oakland A’s have placed Ramon Laureano on the Injured List. What has been a difficult 2022 campaign could be at an end.