Athletics All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday due to a fractured left forearm.
Wilson was been hindered since being drilled on the arm with a pitch in the first inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves on July 8. X-rays at the time were negative.
Wilson missed the next three games and avoided an IL stint due to wanting to play in the All-Star Game on July 15. Wilson was the American League’s starting shortstop in that contest.
The injury continued to linger after the break and Wilson’s production plummeted. He was in a 4-for-38 tailspin in nine games since the beaning before sitting out the past three games and four of the last five.
Regarding whether Wilson could be back on Aug. 6, the day is first eligible to come off the IL, A’s manager Mark Kotsay said, per the Sacramento Bee, “That’ll be tough, I think, but I don’t want to put a timeline on anything. It’s a pain tolerance thing.”
Wilson is batting .312 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs in 94 games. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 draft was hitting .372 as recently as June 8.
Wilson, 23, was the leading candidate for the AL Rookie of the Year over the first half of the season. But the injury — now leading to further absences — combined with teammate Nick Kurtz’s epic rise appears to position the latter as the favorite.
The Athletics recalled infielder Darell Hernaiz from Triple-A Las Vegas to fill the roster opening.
“With Jacob being out, this is a good chance to see Darell and give Darell some opportunity,” Kotsay said, according to the Bee.
He is batting ninth and playing shortstop in Tuesday’s home game against the Seattle Mariners.
Hernaiz, who turns 24 on Sunday, is batting .305 with four homers and 50 RBIs through 96 games in Triple-A this season.
Hernaiz played 48 games in the majors last season and batted .192 with one homer and 12 RBIs.
–Field Level Media
