Anderson ready to resume baseball activities

KANSAS CITY -- Though there was speculation that Brett Anderson would miss the remainder of the season, the lefty's most recent CT scans indicate otherwise.

Oakland's Opening Day starter, who has been sidelined by a stress fracture in his right foot, learned on Friday that it's healing and he no longer needs to wear the walking boot he's been sporting for seven weeks. Anderson can resume weight-bearing activities immediately.

It's undetermined as to when Anderson will return to the mound, but manager Bob Melvin strongly believes that time will come before season's end -- a notion that wasn't so certain before Friday, as surgery was thought to be a strong possibility.

The 25-year-old Anderson could wind up back in the rotation in August, as was the case last year after he finished Tommy John surgery rehab. He won each of his first four starts and finished with a 2.57 ERA, along with a .225 opponents' average in 2012, helping the A's to their first playoff appearance in six years.

Reflecting on that run Friday, Melvin said, "It was like making a trade."

Anderson was 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA through six games, including five starts, before the injury shelved him in early May.