Danny Valencia has been a key cog in the middle of the Oakland Athletics lineup this season, but the veteran utility man is in the dugout with a hamstring injury.
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Valencia Suffers Strained Hamstring
Wednesday, April 20
Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Valencia left Wednesday's game against the New York Yankees with a strained left hamstring.
Per John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group, Valencia was injured following a slide into home plate and limped back to Oakland's dugout.
Oakland manager Bob Melvin has used Valencia primarily as his cleanup hitter so far this season. The 31-year-old is an unusual choice to hit in the middle of the order because of his lack of pop, but he entered Wednesday leading the A's in batting average (.286) and on-base percentage (.340).
Valencia did have a career year in 2015 with an .864 OPS and 18 home runs, just the second time in six seasons he reached double digits in homers. Chris Coghlan slid over to third base after Valencia was taken out, with Jed Lowrie going from designated hitter to second base.
The Athletics don't have a potent offense, only scoring 40 runs through 14 games this season, so they can't afford to lose any of their starters for a long period of time.
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