Good morning everyone! Happy Tuesday!

The A’s announced a few roster moves on Monday afternoon just a couple of hours before welcoming the Twins for the first of four games in Sacramento, with the big move placing Miguel Andujar on the IL with an oblique strain as well as right-handed starter Gunnar Hoglund with a left hip impingement:

The Athletics placed right-handed pitcher Gunnar Hoglund on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 1 with a left hip impingement and third baseman/outfielder Miguel Andujar on the 10-day injured list with a strained right oblique, the club announced today. The A’s also…

— A’s Communications (@AthleticsPR) June 2, 2025

More tough injury news for the A’s after a relatively healthy April. The placement of Andujar isn’t a surprise after Mark Kotsay said an IL trip was likely after yesterday’s loss. The news about Hoglund’s injury however is new, and perhaps a big reason why the A’s were hesitant to announce their starters during this Twins series.

Andujar is in his second season with the Athletics and in both years he’s been a more than reliable right-handed bat. Over almost 500 plate appearances the former top prospect has slashed .289/.323/.386 with seven home runs. During that time he’s played almost exclusively in the outfield but has seen extended action at third base this season for the first time in years. He’s started nearly as many games at the hot corner as he has in left field this season, not only helping the A’s at a position of need but also perhaps boosting his trade value.

The timing of the injury does no good for anyone. Andujar is set to become a free agent at the end of the year and at 30-years-old a guaranteed contract is no guarantee. Andujar was playing himself into a possible trade chip for a playoff-bound team in need of a right-handed bat, and a big second-half push towards the postseason and a big October on the biggest stage could earn him an extra few million dollars on the open market. With oblique injuries though no one knows how long he could be out for. These types of things have an annoying habit of lingering.

His injury isn’t likely season-ending, but depending on the severity it could keep him down through the Trade Deadline, tying him to the Athletics and the Athletics to him for the final two months of the year. If that were to happen the team would likely let Andujar walk in the offseason, recouping no future value. This is a scenario that literally helps no one and everyone should have their fingers crossed that this ends up being a minor injury we all forget about in a month.

The news about Hoglund seems to have come out of nowhere. The former 1st-rounder has made six starts for the Athletics so far in his first taste of major league action. After replacing fellow rookie Joey Estes in the starting rotation Hoglund arrived in impressive fashion, allowing just three runs over his first two starts. Since then he’s made four starts and allowed 20 runs, including yielding 8 runs in his previous outing against the Blue Jays. He looked much more uncomfortable after that third start and it now makes sense why.

The hope is that this injury was the source of these struggles and it’s not a long-term worry, but given the way things have shaken out for the Athletics’ pitching this year don’t hold your breath. We have no idea how the team plans to replace Hoglund in the starting rotation but it bodes well for Jacob Lopez and Sean Newcomb’s chances at getting a long look as a starter.

Taking Andujar and Hoglund’s places on the active roster will be outfielder JJ Bleday and right-handed reliever Elvis Alvarado. Bleday was one of those that were demoted in the massive roster shakeup a couple of weeks ago. It was well deserved as he was hitting just .204 and not intimidating anyone in the batters box after impressing during the 2024 season. Since his demotion to Triple-A Bleday has torn the cover off the ball to the tune of .370/.433/.519 with a home run and a pair of stolen bases, but in a hitter-friendly ballpark and in a small sample size.

With the Athletics seemingly committed to giving Denzel Clarke a legitimate chance in center field, it seems the best route to playing time for Bleday would be in left field. His biggest competition at the moment are rookies Drew Avans and Logan Davidson, with Tyler Soderstrom taking over at first base when Avans is playing left field. So if Bleday, a former 1st-rounder himself, can’t force his way back into the picture at this point over those two guys…. who know what his future with the club is?

Alvarado meanwhile will join the A’s for a seemingly limited amount of time. With the club not in need of a fifth starter anytime soon the team can afford to give the beleaguered bullpen an extra arm for a few days. The 26-year-old rookie made it into a couple of games for the Athletics during May, allowing three runs in two appearances. He’s been much better at Triple-A and could end up being an improvement over some of the other arms in the bullpen. It’s a low bar to clear right now.

Have a good day guys.

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1B-OF Seth Brown was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for last week. In 6 games, he went 15 for 28 and slashed .536/.552/1.143 with 5 HRs, 2 doubles & 10 RBIs and had 6 straight multiple-hit games for @AviatorsLV. pic.twitter.com/q51dwCkRFx

— Bill Moriarity – A’s Farm (@AthleticsFarm) June 2, 2025

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