Even though the Oakland Athletics have officially begun their 2012 campaign, they still have some roster moves to make before their home opener Friday. They made a few moves on Wednesday that cleared up some room, putting Daric Barton on the DL retroactive to March 24, while Dallas Braden will be shut down for a few weeks as well as both are dealing with shoulder injuries, according to MLB.com's Jane Lee.
Barton is yet to play in back-to-back games this spring as his arm strength in his surgically repaired right shoulder continues to build slowly, and has not come to pass as quickly as he'd hoped.
"We just felt like he needed, and he felt like he needed, several games in a row to feel good about where his arm strength is," manager Bob Melvin said.
With Barton sidelined, Bob Melvin will have both Brandon Allen and Kila Ka'aihue on the 25-man roster, with Allen the likely starter at first base. Allen is batting .303 this spring with two home runs and 13 RBIs, while Ka'aihue has three homers but only a .222 BA and a .256 OBP. According to Melvin, he's comfortable with them handling duties at first together.
As for Dallas Braden he received a platelet-rich injection in his nagging shoulder on Monday as well, which will unfortunately put him on the shelf for the next three weeks or so. Braden was looking good until a setback in Arizona during the rest of the A's trip to Japan left him reeling, now even further behind on his rehab and return. Melvin was quick to note that a timetable is in place, but not set in stone by any means:
"The schedule he was on, obviously we're not on any more," manager Bob Melvin said. "We're not even looking at a schedule right now, just seeing how he feels."
Two other pieces of note, Reliever Joey Devine is awaiting results on an MRI he had on Monday as he is dealing with some elbow tendonitis, while LHP Brett Anderson threw a 40-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, and is now throwing curves and sliders once more.
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