A's Jefferies Faces MRI After Injuring Arm
It’s been difficult for Daulton Jefferies to stay healthy the past few years, but he thought 2020 might be different.
It’s not.
Jefferies walked off the field in the company of a trainer in the middle of the A’s 14-4 loss to the Brewers on Monday. The A’s are saying it might be a bicep injury; they won’t have a full report until after Jefferies undergoes an MRI on Thursday.
Manager Bob Melvin said it was “pretty scary” to watch the way Jefferies reacted after the pitch that led to the pain in the fourth inning.
“I have a hope we have some good news,” Melvin said. “He was having a tough time there. I’m not sure what the timeline is. I’ll talk to (head trainer) Nick (Paparesta). He didn’t come and talk to me during the game, which is probably a good sign.
“It was pretty scary to watch his reaction and go out there and see his face.”
Jefferies has been down the injury route before. Drafted in the first round out of the 2016 draft – the same first round that A.J. Puk was plucked – he has yet to pitch in a big-league game, unlike Puk.
He had Tommy John surgery that limited him to a cumulative three games in 2017-17. So far there is no indication of a repeat occurrence.
“Hopefully we caught a break,” Melvin told the A’s media Tuesday. “The way it looked when he was on the mound, after having Tommy John, was a little ominous. But it’s not that area. That’s a good thing.”
While splitting his 2019 season between Class-A Stockton and Double-A Midland, Texas, Jefferies pitched in 26 games with a 3.42 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 79 innings.
The A’s see him as a potential top-line starting pitcher, but he is going to have to be healthy for that to happen. That makes Thursday’s MRI and subsequent consultations with the medical crew significant.