With Norris' sore back, A's have one healthy catcher

TORONTO -- The A's were down a catcher in Toronto on Sunday, as Derek Norris continued to nurse a sore back that spasmed up on him during Saturday's game.

That left third baseman Josh Donaldson, a natural catcher, as the team's backup to Stephen Vogt.

"It's definitely better than yesterday," Norris said. "The right side of my back is pretty much all tight. We're just trying to slowly relax those muscles, so they can get back to normal."

Norris incurred the injury during his fourth at-bat of Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays, when he reached out for a changeup for his third hit of the game. Then, on Jed Lowrie's ensuing grounder, "I was trying to break up the double play," Norris explained, "and I slid, and knew something wasn't quite right.

"My alignment's still off. I feel like I'm surfing or something," he said. "I'm still trying to look at myself in the mirror and straighten myself out, and that's not quite working yet. We're going to have to cool this right side off a little bit. It's still pretty fired up."

Still, walking without pain on Sunday morning was an encouraging sign for Norris, who is experiencing back issues for the first time since high school. Even then, it was a minor ordeal.

Norris considers this as such, too, and the A's are hoping that's the case, considering they don't have a true healthy catcher on their 40-man roster outside of Vogt at the moment.

John Jaso, on the disabled list with a concussion, has yet to even resume baseball activities, and Triple-A catcher Luke Montz has also been on the DL for more than a month.