Oakland A's Ramon Laureano still weeks away from returning

Following the game first game of their series against the New York Yankees in the Coliseum, Oakland Athletics' manager Mark Kotsay provided an ominous update on A's injured outfielder Ramon Laureano.

As reported by Sam Warren of the San Francisco Chronicle, Kotsay said that Laureano "will likely be out for a few more weeks." That's reasonable, though, considering how impossibly optimistic the first reports sounded when Laureano's injury was first revealed following the announcement of the outfielder hitting the 10-day IL.

Back on June 24, we reported that the A's had sent Laureano to the 10-day injured list on Friday, June 23, with the move being retroactive to the day before that one. Laureano entered the IL with a fractured hand.

According to Martin Gallegos of MLB.com, Laureano's injury was caused by a pitch thrown into his left hand in a game against the Brew Crew earlier in June, contrary to the initial reports talking about Laureano getting to the IL because of a right-hand injury.

In the latest update regarding Laureano's recovery, provided by the club and reported by Warren of the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday evening, Laureano is "set to have follow-up imaging on his right hand next week."

As Warren points out in his article, Laureano played seven games after the series in which he got hit by the ball which ultimately injured him. Kotsay, speaking after the opener against the Yankees, confirmed that Laureano "played through that fracture for a few games," as transcribed by the SFC reporter.

Kotsay added that "until he really couldn’t feel like he had the strength to take a good swing,” Laureano kept on going. The outfielder, though, reached a point in which he didn't feel good enough to play, thus alarming the team about it and ultimately hitting the injured list.

With the All-Star around the corner and the timeline for Laureano's recovery and potential comeback (multi-week) pretty much aligning on the schedule, it's fair to assume that the A's won't rush his return and instead delay it until after the Seattle festivities took place in mid-July.

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