The Oakland A’s have a slew of MLB-readyish hitting prospects at Triple-A Nashville, but one of them will be out of the picture for the time being. Catcher Bruce Maxwell has gone on the disabled list with a strained oblique, reports Athletics Farm (via Sounds play-by-play broadcaster Jeff Hem). He isn’t expected back until at least mid-June.
This is a particularly unfortunate injury for Oakland’s youth movement. Other than Chad Pinder, no A’s hitting prospect has gotten more MLB time this year than Maxwell. There are two reasons for that — one is that his Triple-A performance has earned him those promotions, and the other is that his premium defensive position (catcher) has opened up some extra opportunities.