MLB PLAYER NEWS

A’s Davis’ injury more serious than originally thought

The Sports Xchange

May 18, 2015 at 1:31 am.

The loss of Ike Davis was a blow to the A's lineup against right-handed pitching. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

OAKLAND, Calif. — First baseman Ike Davis’ left quadriceps injury turned out to be more severe than the A’s initially thought.

Davis on Sunday was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Thursday, one day after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain. The Oakland A’s recalled outfielder Craig Gentry from Triple-A Nashville to take Davis’ spot on the 25-man roster.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but it’s going to take a little time,” said Davis, who is batting .282 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 33 games.

Davis was injured in the fourth inning May 11 against Boston while running after hitting a double. He was out of the lineup the past four games and made just one appearance since his injury, pinch hitting against Boston on Wednesday.

“Yeah, it ended up being a little bit more severe,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said before his team’s 7-3 loss to the White Sox. “Running, he’d probably tell you he could run about 70 percent. … After the MRI showed a little bit of defect in there, the best thing to do is put him on the DL and get him 100 percent.”

With Davis out on the DL, rookies Mark Canha and Max Muncy will share time at first base. Canha is a right-handed hitter and Muncy a left-handed hitter. Muncy started on Sunday and hit his first major-league home run, a two-run blast in the fourth inning off former A’s right-hander Jeff Samardzija.

“We’ll see,” Melvin said. “Both of them can handle it. If I give (third baseman) Brett Lawrie a day off, might need Muncy at third, might need Canha at first. You look at Canha’s numbers against righties, he’s done all right against righties. As we sit here, probably good chance that both of them share time over there but it depends on who’s in the lineup on a particular day at other places too.”

DH/1B Billy Butler is another option, but he has played just one game at first base this season.

Gentry was sent down to Nashville on May 6 after batting .086 with the A’s. He hit .171 with no extra-base hits in nine games with Nashville. Those numbers at Nashville don’t scream promotion, but Melvin said Gentry is still valuable.

“Always the speed dynamic’s there for him,” Melvin said. “It allows me against lefties to get another righty in there and give (left fielder) Coco (Crisp) a day off from time to time here. He’s been out there a few days in a row. He’s been a guy that’s been part of this. His numbers weren’t great down there, but he can be a contributor for us, definitely.”