Friday, March 15, 2013
Key A's arm battling yet another injury
By Jason Catania
Brett Anderson is dealing with an injury. Rinse, repeat.
The Oakland Athletics left-hander, who missed most of 2012 while recovering from Tommy John surgery and who has missed chunks of prior seasons with various injuries and ailments, currently has neck and back issues, costing him some action this spring.
Anderson, though, is still expected to be the team's Opening Day starter, per manager Bob Melvin, and as John Hickey of InsideBayArea.com reports, he'll be back on a mound Saturday in a minor league game. If all goes well, Anderson should be ready to pitch going forward.
With Bartolo Colon still suspended for the first five games of 2013, the A's would no doubt like to avoid any setbacks with Anderson. The club has good pitching depth -- rookie Dan Straily, who led the minors in strikeouts last year, is the leading candidate to take Colon's missed turn before heading back to Triple-A -- but Anderson needs to demonstrate that he can reach his long-held potential as a staff ace if the A's hope to contend for a second straight playoff berth.
