Oakland Athletics receive bad news about Matt Chapman and A.J. Puk

The Oakland Athletics received bad news about injuries to Matt Chapman and A.J.Puk on Monday.

The Oakland Athletics are already dealing with an injury to shortstop Marcus Semien, and on Monday, they received some more bad news on the injury front regarding both third baseman Matt Chapman and pitcher A.J. Puk.

Chapman was removed in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game against the San Diego Padres after exacerbating a hip injury while fielding a Jurickson Profar ground ball.

Manager Bob Melvin spoke to Chapman about his injury — that has now been described as hip tendinitis — and the star third baseman told him that he felt discomfort in his right hip when working out while the team was under quarantine.

He attempted to play through the injury, but ultimately had to be removed on Sunday. Now the team might be without him for at least the near future.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Melvin didn’t indicate a possible timeframe for Chapman’s injury, but he did imply that he would miss the remainder of the Houston Astros’ series.

If Chapman is forced to miss an extended period of time, it would make sense if the A’s called up Sheldon Neuse given his major-league experience. In the meantime, expect to see the newly-acquired Tommy La Stella at third base with Tony Kemp inserted at second base.

The Oakland Athletics are even more concerned with A.J. Puk’s injury.

As for Puk, it’s unclear if he will be able to pitch this season after his most recent shutdown. The young southpaw was originally hurt during spring training and was shut down with a left shoulder strain right before the start of the season in July.

Puk had been slowly increasing his pitch count in bullpen sessions as well as making rehab starts at the A’s alternate site in San Jose. In fact, many expected that he would return soon — perhaps as soon as later this week.

Ultimately, that won’t be the case as Melvin told reporters that Puk had been shut down once more essentially forcing them to start from scratch. The 25-year-old reportedly experienced soreness in his left shoulder and the team will re-evaluate his status.

Not an ideal couple of days for an A’s team that is looking to get Semien back by the end of the Astros series.

But as for Chapman and Puk, it might be a little while before we see either of them back on the field.