WEST SACRAMENTO -- It’s “next man up” for the Athletics once again after infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday with a right oblique strain.
Andujar’s injury is a Grade 2 strain suffered Sunday against the Blue Jays, A's director of sports medicine and rehabilitation Brian Schulman confirmed before Monday’s 10-4 loss to the Twins at Sutter Health Park.
"He’s going to be a couple weeks, if not longer, and we’ll kind of go from there," Schulman said.
Andujar suffered the injury on his first swing of the fifth inning Sunday in Toronto, going down to one knee and grimacing. He stayed in to finish his at-bat, fouling off the next pitch before hitting a ground ball to third base for a fielder’s choice. He was replaced at third base by Max Schuemann to start the bottom of the fifth.
Andujar has been solid when he’s been on the field for the A’s, hitting .296 in 46 games in 2025 and .289 in 121 overall games in his two-year tenure with the club. He started the season playing nearly every day in left field but has been the team’s primary third baseman since late April, making occasional starts in the outfield or at designated hitter.
This is his third stint on the injured list since the A’s claimed him off waivers from the Pirates in November 2023. The 30-year-old had surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee at the start of the 2024 season, which kept him out until late May. He was placed on the IL at the end of August with a core muscle injury that required season-ending surgery.
Unless Andujar can be back by June 24, he will have been on the field for fewer than half of the A’s contests since the start of 2024.
"It’s always tough as a player when you go through injuries,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s pretty demoralizing when you’re having a good season and that takes away from that opportunity to help a team -- and help yourself, really.”
The A’s will be without a player who had the second-highest batting average among the team’s regulars, trailing only rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson. They also have a hole at third base, but there are several options to fill it.
With Andujar and Gio Urshela (left hamstring strain) on the IL, Schuemann, CJ Alexander and Logan Davidson will handle third base for the A’s for the time being, Kotsay said Monday. Alexander got the start at third for the series opener against Minnesota, but each of the three brings something different to the table. Schuemann hits right-handed, Alexander is a lefty, and Davidson is a switch-hitter.
"Those three guys, we’ll look for the best matchups that we can create for them and take advantage of that,” Kotsay said. “I think they’re all capable of playing third base.”
Outfielder JJ Bleday, who was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to fill Andujar’s spot on the roster, isn’t among the A’s hitters capable of handling the hot corner. Bleday should provide some veteran presence, though; even at 27, he’s somewhat of an elder statesman on a team with a ton of young hitters.
Bleday was sent down on May 23 after struggling in 2025, batting .204 with a .656 OPS and poor defense in center field. His numbers at Las Vegas were encouraging, though: Bleday hit .370 with a homer and a .952 OPS in six games for the Aviators.
"His short stint in Triple-A, I know he’s hit the ball well,” Kotsay said. “That in itself hopefully leads to the confidence he needs to come back here and help us win games.”
The A’s could use that. Monday’s loss to the Twins was their seventh straight defeat, a skid separated from an MLB-worst 11-game losing streak by just one win (May 25 against the Phillies).
They’ll have to get it done without players like Urshela, first baseman Nick Kurtz (left hip flexor strain) and now Andujar, but the A’s are motivated to flip the script.
"We want to be able to turn the page,” Kotsay said. “This game, at this level, when you play 162, there’s a large part of this game that’s mental. There’s some physical, obviously. The mental side of the game is challenging when you don’t have success, but I think for us, the mindset has to be, ‘It’s a new opportunity. It’s a new day to go out and start something new.’”