OAKLAND  (AP) — Right-hander Kendall Graveman was placed on the 10-day disabled list Monday by Oakland with a strained right shoulder, and the Athletics also announced shortstop Marcus Semien will have wrist surgery.
The procedure on Semien’s right wrist is scheduled for today and will include inserting a screw to help heal a broken bone. He was examined Monday in Los Angeles by Dr. Steve Shin, who evaluated MRI and CT scans that revealed a fracture to the scaphoid bone.
Semien will have another CT scan in six weeks and be re-evaluated. There won’t be a timetable for his return until he is seen again by Shin in late May, the A’s said.
“If anybody was holding out with the potential to keep playing it’s him,” manager Bob Melvin said. “This is a guy that was a big part of not only the shortstop defensive part of it but a major player as far as production in the lineup.”
Melvin said the A’s are unsure exactly how Semien’s injury occurred
“We’re still trying to figure that out,” said Melvin, noting that Semien was not hit by a pitch during spring training or in the 11 games he played. “It bothered him a little bit at times in spring training and then felt like we were past it. Then the other night, the game before we actually had him go get an MRI, it started bothering him when he was throwing it. So we’re not sure if it was one event that did it.”
Graveman started opening day in place of the injured Sonny Gray and began the season 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his first three starts. But he exited after just five innings and 74 pitches Friday against Houston, and manager Bob Melvin said afterward the pitcher couldn’t get loose. Both Melvin and Graveman expected he would make his next start.
Instead, it’s yet another key player down for the injury-plagued A’s.
“I think if we give it a couple more days then we’ll be back to normal, back to where we need to be,” Graveman said. “I expect to miss one start, and then come back on the road.”
Semien went on the DL on Sunday. He had been experiencing discomfort in the wrist since spring training.
Oakland recalled catcher Bruce Maxwell from Triple-A Nashville on Monday to take Graveman’s roster spot.
The A’s were set to begin a series at home with Texas on Monday night after the series finale against the Astros was rained out Sunday.
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