Athletics' Rich Hill: A's schedule may afford him extra rest

Hill (groin) will have an extra day off between starts thanks to an off day Thursday, John Hickey of the San Jose Mercury News reports. It's unclear, however, whether the A's will use another off day June 6 to simply skip Hill this time through the rotation.

Analysis:

Kendall Graveman, who is scheduled to start Monday against Minnesota and Sunday at Houston, could start on regular rest Saturday against the Astros, allowing Eric Surkamp (Tuesday's starter) to get a turn in the weekend series with Houston on Sunday. In that scenario, the A's could use their June 6 breather along with their June 9 day off to keep Hill out of their rotation until after the series against the Reds, which runs from June 10 through June 12. Regardless of how they choose to operate, the A's have the luxury of adjusting their schedule in a way that gives Hill plenty of rest for his groin injury, even if they don't end up giving him a brief stint on the DL.