Jacob Wilson's Lingering Shoulder Injury Could Reshape A's Infield Plans

Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson is out of the lineup for the fourth straight day on Thursday in the series finale against the Kansas City Royals. Ahead of Wednesday's game, manager Mark Kotsay said that he's day-to-day and they're trying to make improvements. 

"I can say that it is the shoulder that is the issue. We're doing treatment daily to try and get him in a place where he feels comfortable getting back out there."

He added that since this has been going on for a few days already, the team will have to do an assessment either Thursday or by the weekend. 

That seems to mean weighing whether or not to put Wilson on the IL heading into the Houston series. Wilson missed a month of the season back in May after dislocating his left shoulder. That injury has always needed an offseason fix, but he has been playing through it since his return. 

Since he is not in the lineup on Thursday and wasn't placed on the IL either, the results of that assessment will likely be coming on Friday. 

Wilson has also been dealing with patellar tendinitis this month, which has resulted in the A's shortstop taking some time off his feet, either with more frequent days off or DH days. At the end of June, he also missed a few games with right thumb inflammation, so he has been going through plenty of injuries this year. 

One complicating factor is that the A's have had so many injuries to position players this season that all of their position players on the 40-man roster are already with the big-league club. 

That said, with Tyler Soderstrom set for season-ending surgery on Friday, the A's could simply move him onto the 60-day IL to clear a spot on the 40-man for a player in the minor leagues, if Wilson ends up on the IL. 

We talked recently about the importance of these last six weeks and the opportunity that Soderstrom's surgery would present for someone else on the roster. If Wilson were to end up on the IL, that would create the mechanism for a short-term fix, since they would have to add someone, while the longer-term solution a couple of weeks down the line would remain Denzel Clarke.

Clarke, who is on the 60-day IL, just began a rehab assignment on Tuesday with Triple-A Las Vegas. He is in a slow progression to get back to the roster, given that he's been out since April, and that progression could mirror one that he'd follow in spring training. That likely means at least a couple of weeks of opportunity for someone else, until Clarke is ready.