The Oakland Athletics continue a somewhat forced youth movement as they are now promoting OF/1B/DH Chris Carter to the big leagues to fill in for an injured Josh Willingham. It appears the Achilles injury Willingham suffered is still bothering him and he’s going to get some rest for it on the disabled list. The move allowed the A’s to bring up Carter who remains one of their top prospects.
Carter struggled with a thumb injury early this season at Sacramento but appeared sufficiently recovered from the injury in recent weeks. After a short rehab stint in Stockton, Carter had belted three home runs at Sacramento while 11-for-33 (.333) in nine games. More importantly, Carter showed last September that he could handle big league pitching. After a tough start in August in which he was 0-for-32, he finished September and October hitting over .300 with three man-sized home runs.
The A’s have a variety of options to get him playing time over the next week or two. In two games against the Mets, Hideki Matsui has shown that he hasn’t lost all his moves in left field. It’s possible he might stick around in left next week when the A’s get back to Oakland, thus opening up the designated hitter role for Carter. Although Carter can also play some left field, his fielding has not been the most graceful of arts. He can also play some first base, but it looks like Conor Jackson will be the primary first baseman, with Mark Ellis and Adam Rosales backing him up.