OAKLAND, Calif. — A’s catcher John Jaso took a big step Tuesday in his comeback from a concussion that landed him on the seven-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 24.
For the first time since landing on the disabled list, Jaso took batting practice on the field, joining his teammates before their 6-5 loss to Seattle.
“We haven’t talked about a day, but I think that coming back in the near future is definitely a very good possibility,” Jaso said before taking batting practice.
Last year, Jaso suffered a season-ending concussion and didn’t appear in a game after July 24. This season, he has been battling concussion symptoms since Aug. 8 when he took a hard foul ball off his mask. He tried to fight through the symptoms but finally went on the DL and didn’t accompany the A’s on their recent road trip.
“There’s definitely been progress made since the team left and I got put on the DL,” Jaso said. “I was pretty bad then, and now it’s like I’m waking up and I’m feeling normal. There’s still a few symptoms that ramp up through the day, as the normal day routine and activity happen, but they’re not nearly as bad as before.”
Jaso played catch, ran and shagged balls during batting practice on Monday.
Jaso is batting .264 with 18 doubles, three triples nine home runs and 40 RBIs this season. Before going on the DL, he had been a fixture in the lineup against right-handed pitchers, and the A’s could use his him.
“But he’s going to have to be cleared by the medical staff,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.