A’s 1B Davis to undergo season-ending surgery

Doolittle has been limited to just one appearance this season due to a partially torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.

“We took a while to get him back, and I thought once we got him back we were over that hurdle, but I guess it got progressively worse, and he wasn’t saying a whole lot about it”, Melvin said. He did so Thursday night with Triple-A Nashville on 14 pitches, and Melvin joked that he “was talking to (Doolittle on Friday) for a little while about the four pitches he didn’t throw for strikes – I was getting on him about that a little bit”. Earlier in the season, he spent a long stint on the DL with a lingering injury to his quadriceps and hip.

Though likely headed back to the closer role soon – the A’s have not had a designated closer since trading Tyler Clippard – Doolittle said he’s taking nothing for granted, this season or going forward.

As good as the news is for Doolittle, it’s bad for Davis.

After being placed on the disabled list Tuesday, Davis went for an MRI on Wednesday when the tear was revealed, which forced the six-year veteran to forego the rest of his 2015 season and undergo surgery. The A’s had cut down his workload in recent weeks in the hope he’d be able to stay on the field, but that didn’t work. Davis thinks he tore his hip labrum by trying to overcompensate for his tender quad. Over 74 games, Davis is batting.229/.301/.350 to complement three home runs and 20 RBIs.

Sean Doolittle’s past few rehab outings have been encouraging, including striking out the side in scoreless innings his last two times out.

Rookie Mark Canha will continue seeing the bulk of playing time at first base in Davis’ stead. The A’s outhit Tampa Bay 10-7 but left too many men on base. He said he didn’t know of any arrests from the biggest fan uprising of the Coliseum season. After Saturday’s game, manager Bob Melvin said Doolittle will not be the closer in the short term.