WEST SACRAMENTO – When Joshua Kuroda-Grauer underwent emergency surgery to repair a ruptured testicle on July 20, there truly was no sense of when, or if, he might play again this season.
This just wasn’t an injury you see very often. The only example that the Athletics could really go off of to get some semblance of a timeline for Kuroda-Grauer was Adrian Beltre, who nearly two decades ago had a similar injury while playing for the Mariners in 2009 and missed 5 1/2 weeks before returning.
“Honestly,” Kuroda-Grauer said. “When it happened, I thought my season was over.”
It took Kuroda-Grauer about one month just to walk normally again. Mostly sedentary throughout that time to allow swelling to go down, he had to get his legs and body back into playing shape once he was finally cleared to begin actual baseball rehab around mid-August.
“It was like a month of just sitting around, just because it was such a unique injury,” Kuroda-Grauer said. “The rehab for that was just rest, which kind of sucked because I’m always so active. I want to get out there and do things.”
As unlikely as it seemed, Kuroda-Grauer did make it back to play again in 2026. The A’s No. 4 prospect was activated from the 60-day injured list before Tuesday’s 9-7 win in the series opener against the Angels at Sutter Health Park, getting a chance to put a bow on what was an impressive first showing in the big leagues for the 23-year-old infielder.
“We wanted to make sure we gave him a chance to come back and finish the season,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “All things lined up to where his health is good and his body feels good. He earned that with the performance that he put up in his time here before the injury.”
Kuroda-Grauer was scorching at the plate from the time he made his big league debut on June 29. The versatile infielder with elite bat-to-ball skills was batting .417 (25-for-60) to begin his career at the time of the injury, with his 25 hits tied with Eddie Murphy (1912) for most in A’s history by a player over his first 16 games.
While there was certainly frustration for Kuroda-Grauer to have to miss significant time just as he was starting to establish himself as a big leaguer, he took a positive outlook on the situation.
“I just kind of put it into perspective,” Kuroda-Grauer said. “I kind of told myself, ‘For some reason, God wanted me to take a break.’ Whether it was two months or whatever, he has a plan for me, and I just trust in that. To be back now, that’s just how I know it’s part of his plan. … I’m super grateful.”
Not only was Kuroda-Grauer back Tuesday after three rehab games with Triple-A Las Vegas, but he was also playing defense as the starting second baseman -- a sign that he is fully recovered from the injury. There is also a chance that he sees some time at third base and shortstop over the final week of the season.
Regardless of the results over this final stretch of games, Kuroda-Grauer has set himself up nicely for a chance to, at the very least, compete for a prominent role with the A’s next season.
“It gave me a lot of confidence in knowing that I can be up here and compete,” Kuroda-Grauer said. “Just being able to come back healthy and take that into the offseason is going to be big for 2027, just to get my mind right and get better for next year.”