The Oakland Athletics’ Frankie Montas and Ramon Laureano withdrew from the game against the Los Angeles Angels after being hit in their right hands.
A line drive hit Montas in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The trainer came to the pitch and examined the player’s condition.
Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay stated that it was tough to remove Montas from the pitch due to the incident that affected their right hands and fingers—the most vital parts that throw pitches.
“Out there talking with him, trying to determine if he could stay in the game, he thought he would be good,” Kotsay said, as per San Francisco Chronicle. “But unfortunately he just didn’t have feeling in two fingers, probably the two most important ones to throw pitches. But I think he’ll just be day-to-day.”
Meanwhile, Ramon Laureano suffered a similar thing after the right fielder’s right hand was hit by a pitch.
Laureano tried to stay during the game before finally leaving the pitch in the bottom of the 3rd innings, and Chad Pinter took charge of defense.
Could return on Thursday
The Oakland Athletics’ fans are happy that Montas and Laureano will likely return to the lineup in the upcoming game against the Texas Rangers.
The X-ray result showed that both players’ right hands had no fractures.
Oakland Athletics’ manager Mark Kotsay stated that Montas’ hand was no longer numb after the match against the Angels.
Montas expressed his relief that his injury was not that serious.
He spoke to reporters after the game that his hand was “numb for a little bit” but was feeling “normal” a few hours after he was struck. “Good thing there’s no broken bones,” Montas added.
Montas, Laureano’s performances
This season, Montas has been an outstanding pitcher with Oakland, with a 3.67 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts in 49 innings across eight starts, Bleacher Report revealed.
Last season, the Dominican international recorded 32 starts and 207 batters in 187 innings.
Laureano—who started the season on May 8 after the 80-game suspension due to the use of performance-enhancing drug nandrolone—has been quite impressive by batting -167 with four doubles, seven runs scored in 15 games, and seven walks this season.
Previously, the talented Dominican international made a 288 batting average and 853 OPS, 29 homers, and 20 stolen bases in 171 games from 2018 to 2019.
Oakland Athletics’ injured list
The team also has several players on its injured list for various causes.
Deolis Guerra is now focusing on recovery after undergoing Tommy John surgery—which is common in baseball players–on April 13 in Dallas.
Tommy John surgery—also known as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction—is a surgical procedure aimed at replacing torn ulnar collateral ligament inside an elbow with a tendon taken from any part of the body.
Daulton Jefferies suffered thoracic outlet syndrome—a condition when blood nerves or vessels face a compression by the rib–after his performance against the Minnesota Twins on May 8.
Previously, the 26-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017.
