The Oakland A’s activated outfielder Coco Crisp off the disabled list on Monday after he had spent two months recovering from a neck injury.
The A’s also claimed outfielder Danny Valencia off waivers, recalled right-hander Arnold Leon from Triple-A Nashville and demoted reliever Dan Otero and outfielder Jake Smolinski to Nashville.
Crisp, 35, has played in just 13 games his season. He had two hits in 45 at-bats before going on the DL on May 20.
Manager Bob Melvin expects Crisp to step in and play full time, batting second behind Billy Burns. Crisp was set to be in the lineup Monday against the Baltimore Orioles.
“The plan all along was to make sure he was healthy to come back, play multiple games in a row and now play 6-7 innings and have to take him out,” Melvin said Sunday. “He’ll be a full go once he’s activated.”
Velencia had been designated for assignment Saturday by the Toronto Blue Jays, who had had acquired outfielder Ben Revere from the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
Valencia was hitting .296 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs in a part-time role over 58 games with the Blue Jays this season.
Leon has been recalled from Nashville five times this year. He has a 3.72 ERA in 9 2/3 innings with Oakland, striking out 10 and walking one. He last pitched for the A’s on July 23, allowing one run in 3 1/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Otero is back at Nashville for the second time this season. After struggling with a 6.29 ERA with Oakland early in the season, he was sent down to correct his problems. From June 13 to July 6, he tallied a 0.59 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with Nashville, striking out 13 and walking just two. But, he had allowed four runs in 8 1/3 innings during his latest stint with the A’s.