Gentry making great strides with rehab

KANSAS CITY -- Just two weeks have passed since he suffered a broken right hand, and A's outfielder Craig Gentry has already made significant strides in his rehab.

Stationed in Oakland while his teammates finish off a seven-game road swing through Kansas City and Atlanta, Gentry, who is on the disabled list, is already hitting soft toss and batting off a tee.

"When we were at home, he was all right throwing some, but it was when he was gripping the bat he was having some troubles," manager Bob Melvin said before Wednesday's game against the Royals. "Tee work, soft toss, then we increase it tomorrow.

"Hopefully, we're on the right track with him."

Gentry missed a month of the 2013 season because of the same injury to his other hand, and it appears he's looking at a similar timetable with his right hand. The A's need not rush him back, since they have an outfielder with such a similar skill set on board in Sam Fuld, and keeping both in tow won't be difficult since rosters expand on Sept. 1.

Gentry was batting .264 with 18 stolen bases at the time of his injury. Fuld has four swipes in 12 games since the A's reacquired him from the Twins, along with 11 hits in 40 at-bats.