SAN FRANCISCO -– With the reality that Coco Crisp will undergo elbow surgery and miss several weeks, the A’s outfield becomes a mix-and-match effort.
Help should be on the way quickly if right fielder Josh Reddick (strained oblique) returns after the first five games, when he’s eligible to come off the disabled list. Until then, Oakland will be utilizing its roster depth to the max.
“Depth’s been something we’ve always taken a hard look at,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Situations like this, it really comes into play.”
[STIGLICH: Coco Crisp scheduled for elbow surgery Friday]
Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry figure to be in the lineup occupying two of those spots on a consistent basis, with Fuld handling center field and Gentry playing one of the corner spots. Melvin has indicated Ben Zobrist will see time as the third outfielder, with the left-handed hitting Eric Sogard handling second base. That alignment seems likely against right-handed starters (Sogard was sick Thursday and held out of the Bay Bridge opener against Giants righty Jake Peavy).
Against left-handed starters, Rule 5 pick Mark Canha figures to be in the lineup somewhere after a spring in which he led the A’s with six home runs.
Canha showed in Cactus League games he can capably handle first base or the corner outfield spots. Melvin considers him an option at first, left or right field as well as designated hitter.
It will be interesting to see how the A’s use speed demon Billy Burns, a switch hitter who lit up Cactus League pitching for a .397 average and 29 hits, which tied for the major league lead. Burns is a terrific option off the bench, but the question is whether the A’s give him the occasional start to see if he can ride the momentum of his torrid spring camp.
“Billy Burns has had a great spring. We’ll see how he does there the (next) few days,” Melvin said. “Tyler Ladendorf is another guy that can play almost everywhere. So can Zobrist. Mark Canha had a great camp. Fuld and Gentry … we feel like we’re covered there, although you never wanna lose a couple starters.”
Crisp said he hurt his elbow during his very first Cactus League at-bat, and the elbow began “locking up” on him often after that. Friday’s surgery will be to clean out a bone spur and bone chips, a procedure Melvin said isn’t considered serious.
The typical time period for recovery is six to eight weeks, but both Crisp and Melvin expressed hope that he can return sooner than that.
