Rosenthal has season-ending hip surgery

HOUSTON – A’s manager Bob Melvin revealed on Wednesday that closer Trevor Rosenthal will not pitch this year due to a torn labrum in his right hip.

Rosenthal, who signed a one-year deal worth $11 million over the offseason, was scheduled to have hip surgery in Colorado on Tuesday.

“He had some hip pain the last maybe week, week and a half or so,” Melvin said. “Unfortunately, after the shoulder surgery and working his way back and starting to throw, another thing popped up and he’s going to have hip surgery. So we will not see him this year.”

Rosenthal has not thrown a pitch for the A’s this year. He had surgery to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition he was diagnosed with prior to Opening Day, in early April.

Rosenthal appeared to be nearing a return to the mound after resuming baseball activities on June 22. The A’s were hoping to add the veteran reliever to their bullpen in time for the team to make a late-season push to the postseason.

However, the right-hander received a second opinion from Dr. Marc Philippon before making the decision to undergo the hip procedure.

The A's bullpen situation, Melvin said, “remains status quo.” Rosenthal hasn’t been available all year, so in that respect, the bullpen configuration doesn’t change. Lou Trivino has absorbed most of the closing duties this season, with Jake Diekman and Yusmeiro Petit also logging saves on occasion.

“We weren't 100% sure we were going to get [Rosenthal] back anyway,” Melvin said. “We were hopeful, and based on the way he was progressing after the surgery, we felt pretty good about [a return] sometime in mid to late August. But that's just not the case now.

“We'll see what happens around the Trade Deadline, but what we have is what we have right now and that's what we've been operating with all year.”

The 31-year-old Rosenthal last pitched for the Royals and Padres in 2020, compiling a cumulative ERA of 1.90 over 23 2/3 innings. The results were considered a bounce-back for Rosenthal, after slogging through a brutal 2019 marred with inconsistencies and injuries. His one-year deal with the A’s seemed like a triumphant comeback story.

Instead, Rosenthal’s contract will expire without him throwing a single pitch for the A’s.

“It stings,” Melvin said. “This was the final piece we brought in. When some money was freed up to be able to bring in a guy like him and you expect them to be your closer, it's disappointing.

“It's disappointing for him, too. He wanted to pitch for us and then when he had his shoulder surgery, he worked hard to try to come back and help us out.”