Fernando Tatis Jr of the San Diego Padres dodges a pitch just under his chin from Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Hoffman who threw high and tight on Mon Aug 31 at Coors Field in Denver. Tatis and the Padres come to the Oakland Coliseum to play the A’s this Fri Sep 4th (AP News file photo) 

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s resume play Friday night against the San Diego Padres after missing the last four games due to a player being diagnosed with Covid-19. The A’s GM David Forst announced today that pitcher Daniel Mengden was the individual infected with the disease. The A’s placed Mengden on the coronavirus IL.

Mengden’s absence will create some problems for Bob Melvin. The A’s have to play twenty-six games in the next twenty-four days. The A’s acquisition of lefty Mike Minor will help the starting rotation. Mengden was used as a long reliever, and Melvin will have to find someone to replace him.

A’s shortstop Marcus Semien will not play Friday night due to an injury suffered in the Houston series last weekend. The A’s have a couple of options to use. Chad Pinder is capable of filling in for Semien. Melvin can move Matt Chapman over to short and replace him at third with either Pinder or Tony Kemp.

The A’s will be hosting a revamped San Diego Padre team for three games starting Friday night. The Padres’ General Manager A.J. Preller added nine big leaguers to the roster before the trading deadline. He sent away fourteen Padre players on his roster, but none of the top three Padre prospects. The key players acquired were pitcher Mike Clevinger from the Cleveland Indians and designated hitter Mitch Moreland from the Boston Red Sox.

The Padres own a record of 23-15 before play on Thursday. Oakland fans should be watching the games on TV to see some of the players making the Padres a team that should make the playoffs. Padres’ shortstop, the sensational 21-year Fernando Tatis, Jr. will be making his first trip to the Oakland Coliseum.

Tatis was named the NL player of the month. He is hitting .307 with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs. He owns a whopping 1.082 OPS. Manny Machado, earning 30 million dollars a year, will be at third base. Machado, bouncing back after a subpar season in 2019, has a slash line of .306/.377/.599 with 11 home runs to his credit.

Another rising star is second baseman Jake Cronenworth. Jake is hitting a robust. 346 with four homers and seventeen RBIs. His OPS is 1.011. Eric Hosmer will be at first base for the Padres.

Former Oakland A’s second baseman, Jurickson Profar, will be in left field for San Diego. Profar’s batting average is .236, with eight dingers and seventeen RBIs. Trent Grisham will be in centerfield. Greg Allen will be the right fielder. Mitch Moreland, coming over from Boston, is hitting .316 with eight big flys and 21 RBIs. Formerly with the Angels, Jason Castro and Austin Nola, acquired from Seattle, will handle the catching.

The A’s will not see Mike Clevinger this weekend. Clevinger is pitching Thursday night against the Angels. The Padres’ rookie manager Jayce Tingler will send Zach Davies to the hill Friday night. Davies is 5-2 and has an ERA of 2.61. Chris Paddack will pitch on Saturday. For Angels’ starter, Garrett Richards will start on Sunday. The A’s have not announced the starters yet. Jesus Luzardo, Frankie Montas, Mike Fiers probably will go for the Green and Gold.

The Padres made another move to strengthen their bullpen when they acquired Trevor Rosenthal from the Kansas City Royals. Rosenthal, an outstanding closer with the St. Louis Cardinals, has bounced back after not doing well the past couple of seasons.

It should be an exciting series. The up and coming Padres are going against an A’s team that has not played since last Saturday. The A’s are 22-12 and are in first place in the AL West. The A’s, after the series with San Diego, have four games with the Astros.

They probably will play a doubleheader as the two teams do not meet again. The A’s then go to Texas to play the Rangers, and they play another doubleheader. They have to make up the three games with the Mariners between now and September 27th. Let’s hope the A’s can meet the challenges and still win the top spot in the AL West.