Brandon McCarthy missed his last start with a shoulder problem. If you're familiar with McCarthy's injury history, you know why this is a problem. His shoulder is a complete and total jerk, and it puts him on the DL for long stretches of time.
So it was a welcome relief when an MRI on his shoulder came back clean, and manager Bob Melvin is optimistic that McCarthy can avoid missing too much time. From the Chronicle:
Bob Melvin said he's "more hopeful it's a non-DL situation" for Brandon McCarthy, who played catch Wednesday. The A's still need someone else to pitch Saturday.
According to Baseball Prospectus, this is the 10th time over the past five-plus seasons that McCarthy has missed time because of his jerk shoulder, but it doesn't look like this is one of the stress fractures that has caused him to miss extended periods of time in the past.