A's place Inge on DL hoping for quick return
Third baseman out with right shoulder sprain; Donaldson recalled
Inge was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a sprained right shoulder sustained while making a diving play on Saturday against the White Sox. The A's recalled Josh Donaldson from Triple-A Sacramento, and he will take over as the team's primary third baseman.
Inge remained in the game in Chicago after spraining the shoulder and drove in the go-ahead run the following inning in Oakland's 9-7 win. But the A's decided that it would be best for Inge to sit out for 15 days.
"He'd try to go out there with a bone sticking out of his skin, so we have to be careful and know what kind of guy he is," manager Bob Melvin said. "He has a very high threshold for pain. But the doctor doesn't think this is going to be a five- or six- or seven-day thing. This will be bothering him in the fashion that it still is today four, five, six days from now, and you have to strengthen some and get him ready. But we're holding out hope that he's close to [being back] if not [back] on the 15 days."
Melvin also clarified that the injury is a sprain and not a dislocation, as previously thought. The DL stay is retroactive to Sunday, and the hope is that Inge will be ready to go when the requisite 15 days are up.
"The MRI didn't show anything to suggest a long stint," Melvin said. "Knowing him, I would say hopefully the sooner the better as far as when the 15 days are over."
Inge is hitting .216 on the season, which included a recent hot streak that saw him pick up a hit in 18 of his last 20 games. He hit just .265 over the stretch, but picked up three doubles, four home runs, 12 RBIs, six walks and 13 runs scored.
This is Inge's third trip to the DL this season. He strained his left groin while playing for Detroit in April, and after joining the A's, he was disabled May 13-27 with a strained right groin.