It seems the foot/ankle injury Oakland Athletics pitcher Brett Anderson has had for more than a month is not just a simple sprain. Turns out it's a stress fracture.
The team announced last Saturday that Anderson had a CT scan which revealed the fracture. Anderson felt pain in his foot last Monday when he was running in the outfield. The lefty will be reevaluated in four weeks, but in the meantime he will have to rest and rehabilitate the injury. Anderson plans on throwing in the meantime. A's writer Susan Slusser guesses that Anderson will be out at least two months because of the injury.
"I'd pitched in San Antonio and felt good after that. I was running Monday in the outfield and all of a sudden my foot started hurting. I got it checked out and this is the result. I'm still processing it," says Anderson. "I should take up a hobby, maybe play darts, or something."
For A's fans and the reigning AL West Champion team this is disconcerting news, as Anderson has been pitching through the pain for the last three weeks and the team enters a tough stretch.They had lost eight of 10 games entering last Friday's opener. Anderson himself has said that he is very frustrated with his current situation.
"It's pretty frustrating, disappointing, and similar adjectives," said Anderson. "I was two days away from making another rehab start and now I'm in a walking boot with a fracture in my foot."
Manager Bob Melvin adds, "It's very unfortunate. For a guy who worked as hard as he did to come back last year to be our No. 1 guy, you feel bad for him and you feel bad for the team."
Anderson is 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA with six outings and five starts this season. He pitched relief in the marathon 19 inning game on April 29th, a game he was scheduled to start before he was scratched.
Anderson had Tommy Jones surgery (reconstructive elbow surgery) last year and hoped his intensive training regimen during the offseason would keep injuries away this season. So far, he hasn't been so lucky.
In the meantime, the A's called up left-hander Hideki Okajima from Triple-A Sacramento. The 37 year old Okajima was 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 14 games for the River Cats. He last appeared in the Majors with the Boston Red Sox in 2011.
"I'm very excited about pitching here," says Okajima. "It feels good coming back from Japan. I want to be able to pitch like I did my first year in Boston. I was hoping to get back to the Majors and the A's gave me the opportunity. I polished up some of my pitches in Sacramento, like the change and I worked on my cutter too. There was a lot of traveling to and from Sacramento."
References: Sports Illustrated and Rant Sports.
If you are a baseball player and you have a foot problem, call our Newington, Kensington, or Middletown office to make an appointment.
Craig M. Kaufman, DPM
Connecticut Foot Care Centers
Sports Medicine Podiatrist in CT
Podiatrist in Newington
Visit our website, like our page on Facebook, and follow our tweets on Twitter.
