The Oakland Athletics have enjoyed a relatively healthy spring, but some nagging injuries may put a few key players in jeopardy of not being ready for Opening Day. Starter Paul Blackburn is dealing with a torn finger nail on his pitching hand which will push back his next scheduled start according to a report by The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara.
For now, he has been regulated to playing catch, but won’t be able to resume pitching until the nail heals. A’s manager Mark Kotsay admitted Tuesday that it could jeopardize Blackburn’s availability for the start of the regular season.