Any hope that the Oakland Athletics might get ace starter Sean Manaea back for the playoffs can now be thrown completely out the window.
Sidelined since late last month with a shoulder injury, the A’s announced that Manaea will undergo surgery later in September. He’s now lost for the remainder of the season.
#Athletics Medical Update on LHP Sean Manaea:
Manaea will have arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder on Sept. 19 at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. The club will provide further details after the surgery.
Details: https://t.co/laoqjeUlix pic.twitter.com/5nHhMcKOlx
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) September 11, 2018
Oakland refused to provide any more details on what type of surgery Manaea will undergo. But it’s safe to say this is a long-term injury. The A’s had previously shut the 26-year-old starter down with what was described as a rotator cuff injury. We can do the math from there.
Manaea had been tremendous prior to suffering said injury. He’ll finish the season having posted a 12-9 record with a 3.59 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while tossing a no-hitter against Boston back in April.
Oakland enters Tuesday’s action with a shocking 87-57 record. It’s just three games behind Houston in the AL West and is currently 7.5 ahead of Seattle for the final AL Wildcard spot. Losing Manaea will hurt big time moving forward.
It will also force the A’s to continue relying on its deep bullpen through the final couple weeks of the regular season and the playoffs.
Update: A’s manager Bob Melvin said Manaea is expected to be sidelined through the 2019 season.
Sean Manaea is expected to be sidelined through 2019, Melvin says.
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) September 11, 2018