The Oakland Athletics activated first baseman Dan Johnson from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday after he finished nursing a torn labrum in his left hip.
The club optioned catcher Adam Melhuse - who went 1-for-6 in just three games this year - to AAA Sacramento and moved designated hitter Mike Piazza back to his backup role behind starting catcher Jason Kendall.
With Milton Bradley and Mark Kotsay still on the DL, and Nick Swisher and Bobby Kielty nursing injuries, the short-handed A's decided they needed DJ's bat in the lineup. His return to first base on Wednesday night wasn't what he expected, as he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
Johnson had a convincing rookie season for Oakland in 2005, batting .275 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in just 109 games, but struggled from the beginning of last season. He went 0-for-27 at the start of 2006 and hit .234 overall, spending most of the second half in the minors.
[Mercury News]
4 comments:
DJ - product of Coon Rapids, Minnesota!
That's right! MN Represent!
Johnson healthy, swinging big bat
This is why they don't let me write the headlines.
As an A's fan, I think it is a huge screwjob to Melhuse. He's not got a bad stick (albeit with a small sample size) and I don't think Kendall should be catching 145 games a year anyway. Here you have a backup who isn't making waves about playing time, who gets the job done when he's in there, and you send him down and carry one catcher. Melhuse isn't going to get playing time in Sacramento as Kurt Suzuki is the starter and being groomed for replacing Kendall.
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