When Jarrod Parker left his last start on Saturday with an apparent injury to his hamstring, Oakland A’s fans immediately feared the worst. After all, they’ve dealt with severe injury issues to once-prized pitcher Brett Anderson, and Parker had been coming on in a huge way over his last few starts.
However, there should be clarity on the situation after Parker’s side session on Tuesday afternoon. John Hickey (of InsideBayArea.com) is reporting that there is some uncertainty about Parker’s injury, and that there are two options for what the diagnosis may be. One school of thought is that the right-hander is dealing with a simple cramp in the area, but the other would be a diagnosed “strain”, and that would cause him to miss some time on the mound.
In addition to the waiting period for a real diagnosis, there is question about who would replace Parker for his scheduled Thursday start. The A’s have two quality options in Dan Straily, who has struggled a bit this season but has a nice pedigree, and Sonny Gray, the team’s 2011 1st-round pick who has been tearing up the minor leagues.
Neither would adequately replace Parker who, after a rough start, has lowered his ERA to 4.11 thanks to allowing 3 runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts. He is their #1 starter at the moment, and that means something to a team who has playoff aspirations at 48-35 and just a half-game behind Texas in the AL West.
We’ll know more on Tuesday.