With two weeks to go until Opening Day, the Oakland Athletics were dealt a huge blow as it was announced that veteran starting pitcher Jarrod Parker will be undergoing Tommy John surgery, shutting him down for all of 2014. The story was first broken by longtime Athletics’ beat writer Susan Sussler around 12:30 PM on Monday after Parker met with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews who had in fact performed Parker’s first Tommy John surgery back in 2009 while he was still a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It was clear from the start of Spring Training that Parker was having issues with his mechanics as he had pitched 9 1/3 innings, striking out eight but allowing 11 earned runs for a 10.61 ERA and a 0-0 record. Some critics felt that it was merely Parker shaking the jitters out, especially when considering the fact that he went 2-6 with a 5.76 ERA and 40 strikeouts in his first 10 appearances of 2013 before finishing the season strong at 12-8.
Nonetheless, Parker admitted that he was dealing with bouts of forearm tightness in his pitching arm (right) around the time the Athletics locked up their second consecutive American League Western Division title. As fate would have it, the worst result was the outcome. But what does this mean for the Athletics?
Fortunately for the Athletics, they have a lot of options to work with internally. Even though Parker was the favorite as the ace, the spot may be passed on to recent acquisition Scott Kazmir, who has been having a decent spring with five strikeouts and no earned runs in seven innings of work.
Following him will more than likely be Sonny Gray, the pitching star of the 2013 American League Division Series for the Athletics who is having a little bit of trouble (6.30 ERA and eight strikeouts in 10 innings) in the eve to his first full season in the Majors. Like Kazmir, Daniel Straily has been posting great outings, five strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 9 1/3 innings, and it’s doubtful that he’ll spend much, if any, time down in Sacramento with the River Cats, their Triple-A affiliate.
After him, things get a bit squiffy. A.J. Griffin, the team leader in strikeouts in 2013, will more than likely be missing his first two (at least) starts of the season after being shut down this last week with flexor tendonitis after a significant rough-up in Spring Training to the tune of a 10.38 ERA and only six strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings of work. This now leaves the door wide open for Tom Milone to return to grace, and luckily for him his 1-1 record with six strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 14 innings have been a true testament to his talent.
For the fifth spot manager Bob Melvin will be looking to his bullpen and will more than likely call upon long reliever Jesse Chavez to make a few spot starts until the balance of health is restored to the roster. Crazily enough, if Chavez’s Spring Training numbers hold true to form (3-0 with 12 strikeouts and zero earned runs in 12 2/3 innings) this could theoretically be one of the most pivotal moves on the season.
As big of a blow that all of this has become; realistically, the timing couldn’t be better. General Manager Billy Beane is the master of his craft, and even though the Athletics aren’t in a spot to make any rash moves, this will give him enough time to look down the road well before the trade deadline to make some magic happen if the Athletics aren’t leading the division or close enough to the top of the heap. But when it comes to Parker specifically, both he and the Athletics don’t have a terrible amount to worry about.
Recovering and coming back from Tommy John surgery really isn’t that huge of an issue, especially since a fair percentage of players come back even better than before. However, when it comes to having a second operation, then the cause for panic sets in. As far as Parker is concerned, he’s locked up with the Athletics until the end of the 2018 season, but having to sit for a full season right before arbitration will certainly be a huge blow to how much he could have made in his remaining years of his potentially restructured contract.
More importantly, as we learned from 2013, bouncing back after a second Tommy John surgery is a possibility as Brian Wilson proved with the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 2-1, striking out 13 and only allowing one earned run in 13 2/3 innings. On the inverse for the Athletics, this means that they’ll have a little bit extra to spend without having to worry about a potential arbitration hearing in 2015. It sounds a bit grim, but this is the sad reality of the business of baseball.
The one thing that has improved a bit for the Athletics going into the 2014 that they can hang their hat on is their offense. True, Yoenis Cespedes has struggled a bit, but on the whole the Athletics are getting phenomenal at-bats from Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss, Stephen Vogt, Derek Norris, newly acquired infielder Nick Punto and Jed Lowrie.
If the Athletics hope to maintain the success they’ve had over the last two seasons they really need to boost their offensive numbers much like they did in the start of last season to help offset any issues that still need to be worked out in the starting rotation.