Phegley lands on DL; Lavarnway recalled
TORONTO -- A's catcher Josh Phegley landed on the disabled list Thursday with a left oblique strain, leading the club to recall backstop Ryan Lavarnway from Triple-A Nashville.
Phegley said Wednesday he felt discomfort in the area during batting practice, and it only worsened throughout the night. It's unclear how much time he'll miss, since such injuries vary in degree of severity -- though obliques typically require extended time.
"Those things typically aren't a short period of time, but he didn't feel like it was that bad," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Yet when you cool down and wake up the next day, it's a little more significant, so it'll certainly be this 10-day period, and we'll probably have a better idea in the next few days how long it's going to be."
Lavarnway, who joined the A's in Toronto on Thursday morning, returns for his second stint with the big league club, his first lasting just three days earlier this month while Phegley was away from the team on paternity leave.
Lavarnway was subsequently designated for assignment before being outrighted back to Nashville on July 14. He's batting .262 with six home runs in 67 games for the Sounds and will see the majority of his playing time with the A's against left-handers, while Bruce Maxwell continues to get the bulk of playing time at catcher.
"We're comfortable with him," Melvin said. "He was with us most of spring and is aware of how we do things around here."
Phegley is batting .205 with three home runs in 47 games this season.