Athletics Lose Severino for the Season, Soderstrom Likely Next in Brutal Injury Update

Just when you thought the Oakland Athletics' farewell tour couldn't get any more depressing, the injury bug decided to clear out the few remaining reasons to tune in. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the season is officially over for starting pitcher Luis Severino, and top bat Tyler Soderstrom might be right behind him.

Losing a frontline starter and a core lineup piece in the same afternoon is the kind of brutal parlay that sends a clubhouse straight into early vacation mode. For a franchise already playing out the string in front of sparse crowds, this is a devastating blow to whatever competitive illusion they had left.

"MLB Trade Rumors reported: 'The season is over for an #Athletics starter, and maybe for one of their top bats as well.'"

The writing was on the wall for Luis Severino after he was forced to exit a recent start against the New York Yankees after just one inning. What started as right arm soreness and triceps tightness has now officially shut him down for the year, leaving a massive hole in a rotation that was already paper-thin. And for the record, this is the starter we are talking about, not veteran catcher Pedro Severino, though at this point the A's might need him to pitch too.

The Soderstrom situation is somehow even more frustrating. While local injury reports haven't fully updated his status, the ominous reporting suggests the left fielder's season is hanging by a thread. When your top offensive weapon is suddenly a question mark, the daily lineup card turns into a guessing game.

The Athletics just limped through a rough stretch against the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers, dropping four of their last six games while giving up double-digit runs twice to Tampa. Taking away Severino's arm and Soderstrom's bat from that equation is like removing the engine and the steering wheel from a car that was already on cinder blocks.

Oakland now has to pack up whatever healthy bodies they have left and head to Kansas City for a late-night series against the Royals starting August 17. Anyone looking at the run lines for that matchup needs to seriously account for an A's roster that is rapidly running out of major-league caliber reinforcements.

We will wait for the final medical verdict on Soderstrom, but the vibes are undeniably in the gutter. At this point, the most valuable thing the Athletics can do is wrap their remaining prospects in bubble wrap until the season mercifully expires.