NEWSLETTER
This looked really bad for an old friend who’s trying to beat the dang Astros, and who is otherwise headed to free agency.
Tommy La Stella, who’d homered earlier in the game, took a fastball right off the forearm and was down immediately and for a long time:
La Stella HBP replay. He had to leave the game after being down for a while. pic.twitter.com/jrQATMKC6Y
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) October 7, 2020
It’s cold consolation that La Stella’s HBP helped the A’s extend a rally in the 8th inning to give them a 9-7 lead over the Astros. If that was a serious injury for La Stella – or even just a painful bone bruise – the A’s could be without him for the rest of this short series, should the A’s hold on to win.
You just hope the 31-year-old former Cub is OK in the long run, as he was headed to his first run through free agency having built himself into an extremely strong hitter the last two years (when the Angels and A’s actually gave him consistent playing time).
In reality, his high-contact, hard-contact, line-drive approach from the left side would be a perfect addition to the current Cubs group. And it’s not like they have a set guy at second base at the moment, so … again, I’ll hope he’s OK.
UPDATE: The A’s report after the game that there was no fracture spotted on the X-rays. That’s obviously great news, though with the bone contusion, it could still cost him some games. You hope, at a minimum, his offseason is not impacted.
