Oakland A’s get one player back for homestand, likely to get another

OAKLAND — The A’s got designated hitter Mitch Moreland back from the injured list Friday for their series-opener with the Cleveland Indians and could have outfielder Mark Canha back as soon as Saturday.

Moreland was activated after he had been out of action since July 4 for unspecified reasons and was hitting sixth. Canha worked out on the field for the second straight day Friday and said all signs point to him being available for the A’s at some point during their three-game series with Cleveland.

With Moreland back, Frank Schwindel was designated for assignment.

Prior to the all-star break, Canha, out with a left hip strain since June 24, had received a PRP injection in both of his hips earlier and an epidural injection in his lower back.

“My hips just had some inflammation in there and needed those injections,” Canha said. “It feels good now, so I feel like I’m ready to go,”

Canha said he was originally hoping to return during the A’s series with the Texas Rangers just before the break, “but (the hip) didn’t really feel perfect yet, so I decided to wait until after the break.”

Canha said he’ll eschew a minor league rehab assignment. The A’s are slated to face right-hander and Stanford alum Cal Quantrill on Saturday and righty Zach Plesac on Sunday.

Moreland was batting .238 with six home runs and 22 RBI in 57 games when he was placed on the IL. He has made 37 of his 46 starts against right-handed pitchers and is 4-for-11 (.364) with two RBI as a pinch hitter.

“We had a couple of spots where our lineup didn’t look the same,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Certainly with (Canha) too, when (Stephen Piscotty) was out for a while. (Pinder’s) out now so anytime we can get guys back, we’ll feel better about it.”

Oakland entered Friday’s game 3 1/2 games back of the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West, and with a 3 1/2 game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the second AL Wild Card spot. Cleveland (45-42) was 4 1/2 games back of the A’s.

Melvin said Chad Pinder, who is expected to remain out until early-to-mid August with a right hamstring injury, is not yet doing any baseball activity. Pinder was injured when he ran to first base on the final play of the A’s loss to the Astros on July 7 and was placed on the 10-day injured list.

Schwindel was optioned to Las Vegas on Monday after he went 3-for-20 (.150) with a home run and three RBI in an eight-game stint with Oakland that began June 29.

Schwindel started four games at designated hitter, went 0-for-4 as a pinch hitter, and also appeared in one game at first base. Schwindel was hitting .317 with 16 home runs and 41 RBI in 45 games with the Aviators.

MELVIN ON BASSITT: Melvin said he watched part of Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Denver and was surprised to see Chris Bassitt enter the game for the American League in the sixth inning.

“When they said in the (sixth) inning here comes Chris Bassitt, I had to kind of refocus,” Melvin said. “I’m glad he got in the game,”

Bassitt got the Giants’ Brandon Crawford to pop up and the Dodgers’ Justin Turner to ground out before he ran into some trouble. He allowed a single to Manny Machado and walked both Jake Cronenworth and Juan Soto to load the bases, then a passed ball charged to Mike Zunino allowed Machado to score from third base.

Bassitt then struck out Kris Bryant on four pitches to end the threat. Bassitt threw 24 pitches in his outing.

“It looked like it was going to end pretty quickly, and then it got a little dicey,” Melvin said. “So I’m glad it did finally end under 30 pitches, but it looked for a while there might like it might be 10 or 11 pitches, and I would have been great with that.

“He definitely had to work a little harder in the second or the last third of that outing. I think at the end of the day, he’s going to feel great about participating in an all-star game. … I was hoping (Bryant) was the last guy. I was reaching for a dugout phone, but I didn’t have one.”

Bassitt came out of the game OK, according to Melvin, who added that there is an “excellent chance” he’ll pitch on Sunday.