OAKLAND — A’s manager Bob Melvin sat one of his hottest hitters Tuesday night in hopes of getting a struggling hitter on track.
Josh Phegley, author of a nine-game hitting streak and having driven in a run in each of his last six games, was not in the starting lineup at catcher in the series opener against the Houston Astros. Instead, veteran Nick Hundley, coming off an 0-for-10 road trip and hitting .115, was batting ninth and catching starter Marco Estrada.
“As far as catchers go, they’re not going to catch 162 (games) so Phegs will be back in there tomorrow,” Melvin said.