The Oakland Athletics announced during the Bay Bridge Series against the San Francisco Giants that starter Brandon McCarthy would not be available to start in the series finale on Sunday. Taking McCarthy's spot for the day will be A.J. Griffin, freshly called up from Triple-A Sacramento and set to make his MLB debut.
With McCarthy day-to-day with shoulder issues and Bartolo Colon going on the disabled list effective Saturday, Joe Stiglich of the Contra Costa Times points out that the A's will be without their veteran starters and the top two in their rotation as the season midway point draws near.
McCarthy tried playing catch before the game and shut it down. His right shoulder, which has been so problematic throughout his career and has already sent him to the D.L. once this season, is acting up yet again. "It's been building to this over the past couple of days," McCarthy said. "We've done MRIs. It's nothing serious. For whatever reason, it just doesn't recover like it's supposed to. It's not easy being honest with yourself - when (the shoulder) is OK and when it isn't. I was hoping for a miracle, but playing catch, it just wasn't there."
Stiglich expects McCarthy to hit the DL again soon as well as Colon, with no telling when either might be back. Dallas Braden is still solidly on the shelf, so the A's will need to figure out who will be joining Griffin, Tyson Ross, Jarrod Parker and Tom Milone in the rotation. Oakland may be forced to be buyers at the trade deadline.
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