Davis sits Saturday to rest ailing hip
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DETROIT -- Khris Davis is still not completely over his left hip contusion.
After running into the left-field wall in foul territory at PNC Park on May 5, Davis missed four of the next five games, playing only five innings in the one game he did start. He returned to the starting lineup on May 12 and has started the past five games, but after being listed in the original starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the Tigers, Davis was scratched about two hours before the start of Oakland's 4-1 victory at Comerica Park.
“I’ve been playing through it,” Davis said. “I’m not a hundred percent. I just need a day to rest.”
Davis felt the hip issue was affecting him at the plate over the past few days, making his performance over the past week even more impressive. He entered Saturday’s game 8-for-20 (.400) over his past five games with two home runs and three RBIs. But after taking a closer look at his swing during Friday’s win over the Tigers, it was clear to A’s manager Bob Melvin and the training staff that something was still off.
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“His swings haven’t been as hard as he normally takes but he’s getting his share of hits,” Melvin said. “He was feeling it in the cold a little bit last night at the end and with a day game today, we decided to give him a day off. With some treatment, hopefully he’s better tomorrow.”
Though X-rays the day after the injury came back negative, the fact that it’s taking so long to fully heal is now somewhat of a concern.
“Over the course of the season, you’re going to have your bouts where you don’t feel great,” Melvin said. “Obviously it’s a little bit of a concern that it’s still lingering a little bit. Hopefully, we’ll gain some ground with giving him the day off.”
It’s never ideal to have your top slugger out of the lineup, but the late scratch did open up a start for Robbie Grossman. The left fielder is 7-for-24 against Tigers starter Matthew Boyd over his career with two home runs and six RBIs.
Cotton comes away healthy
Jharel Cotton made his first rehab appearance back from Tommy John surgery on Friday night with Class A Advanced Stockton. He went 2 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts. His fastball sat around 90-93 mph for most of the night as he finished with a total of 47 pitches, 30 of which were strikes.
The results don’t really matter for Melvin at this point; he was just glad to see the right-hander come away feeling healthy.
“Once he gets up to four or five innings and out there a couple of times, we’ll worry about the numbers,” Melvin said. “He was healthy, and that’s what we were looking for.”
Cotton will likely get one more start at Class A Advanced Stockton before moving up to Triple-A Las Vegas.