A's Notes: Brent Rooker Out For Remainder of 2026, Ryan Lasko Medical Update

A's DH Brent Rooker will miss the remainder of the 2026 season, manager Mark Kotsay announced before Wednesday's game. He will be undergoing surgery to address a cartilage tear in his knee.

Rooker was placed on the IL with a bone bruise in his left knee on June 12, and saw a specialist at Stanford on Tuesday after his recovery process wasn't moving along as hoped.

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"We tried the conservative measure of doing the injection," Kotsay said on Wednesday. "Obviously with the baseball activity increasing, it continued to be an issue."

The team will provide more details on the surgery itself at a later date. 

The injury itself didn't happen on a specific play, but instead over the course of time, with the cartilage continuing to deteriorate. The bone bruise he was placed on the IL with initially came from a lack of cartilage in the knee, which is why the team tried the conservative approach in the first place. 

The past three seasons, Rooker has been a mainstay in the A's lineup, collecting at least 30 home runs in each season and showing progress across his entire game over the course of those three seasons. 

He's also a two-time All-Star, in 2023 and 2025 — despite 2024 being arguably his best overall season after he hit 39 homers with a .293 average and a .365 OBP. 

"In terms of replacing Rook, there's not one guy that's gonna come in here a replace that production," Kotsay said. 

Ryan Lasko Update

On Tuesday night, A's outfield prospect Ryan Lasko collided with teammate Devin Taylor going for a ball in the gap that each player dove for. 

The A's sent out a medical update on Double-A outfielder Ryan Lasko on Wednesday afternoon that said he's in stable condition after he underwent spinal decompression and stabilization surgery resulting from a C6 – C7 vertebra fracture.

"He's stable," Kotsay said before the game. "The unfortunate part of that injury is that the swelling of the spine is to the extent where he doesn't have feeling in his lower half. 

"There's hope that feeling comes back. It's obviously going to take some time, but the positive from the statement from the doctors is that there's not a definitive statement saying he's not going to regain feeling." 

A's Director of Player Development Ed Sprague travelled to Texas this morning, and all of Lasko's RockHounds teammates are expected to visit him in the hospital in the coming days. 

Kotsay described Lasko, who has been in big-league camp with the team as a competitor.

"I can vividly recall just being around him, and his passion for baseball," Kotsay said.

Former teammate Kade Morris said he's praying for Lasko, and while his job is baseball, Morris is just hoping he's alright. 

"He wants to play every day," Morris said. "Balls to the wall. That's just who he is. I just hope he's able to get back out there. Right now I'm just worried about him getting back and being the person he is."

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