The Oakland Athletics find themselves in the midst of a competitive battle for one of the American League’s two wild card spots. They need all hands on deck in order for that to come to fruition.
A season-high 21 games over .500, Oakland might have suffered a setback Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals. All-Star third baseman and Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman exited after being hit in the head by a pitch from Royals starter Jakob Junis.
There’s no further updates on Chapman’s status. But he could very well be headed to the seven-day concussion injured list.
In addition to being one of the top fielders in the game, Chapman has hit 30 homers and driven in 74 runs this season. That comes on the heels of him finishing in the top 10 of AL MVP voting in 2018.
Oakland entered Wednesday’s action one game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the final wild card spot.