One day after declaring that designated hitter Khris Davis would head to the 10-day injured list because of a nagging left hip injury, Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin said the team isn’t ready to make a decision on its home run leader.
Melvin told reporters on Wednesday that the A’s will decide on the status of Davis after his MRI exam, scheduled for Wednesday.
“There is a great chance he goes on the IL, but we’re holding off — just in case — and we’ll see where we are on Friday,” Melvin said.
Davis wasn’t in the lineup Wednesday and the team has an off day Thursday.
Davis was lifted in the third inning for Mark Canha during the A’s 5-3 win at Cleveland on Tuesday. After the game, Melvin and Davis talked about a move to the IL with certainty.
“Today, it got to the point where he realizes he needs to take the full 10 days off,” Melvin said after the game. “He’s a power hitter, so he creates a lot of torque and that’s where his power comes from. He needs his lower half. Even his BP swings haven’t been great, but he was getting hits. Once he got into the game today, it got no better, so we agreed it was time to do something.”
The seven-year veteran led the majors with 48 home runs last season and is hitting .248 with 12 homers and 29 RBIs this season. He’s a career .248 hitter with 205 homers and 526 RBIs in 818 games.
Davis, 31, bruised his hip on May 5 against Pittsburgh, and said after Tuesday’s game he’s having more of an oblique issue than a hip problem.
Melvin has given Davis periodic rest since the initial injury.
“It hasn’t gotten worse, but it definitely hasn’t gotten better, so it’s the right move to hit the IL,” Davis said Tuesday. “It’s basically pretty much the same since it happened. Every swing, I feel it. I think it’s more of an oblique, but we’ll see.”
