Oakland, CA – The Oakland Athletics activated shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima from the 15-day disabled list Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento.
Nakajima, who was signed to a two-year, $6.5 million deal in the offseason to serve as the everyday shortstop, has been sidelined since spring training with a hamstring injury.
With Jed Lowrie performing well at short for the A's, Nakajima will remain in Triple-A, where he has been on a rehab stint since early May.
Lowrie enters Thursday's action batting .301 with three homers, 21 RBI and 19 runs scored in 45 games. Meanwhile, Nakajima is batting just .265 with five RBI in 13 games during his rehab stint with Sacramento.
The 30-year-old Nakajima had a lengthy career with the Seibu Lions of Japan's Pacific League, where he was a three-time Gold Glove winner and an eight-time All-Star with a .302 lifetime batting average over 11 seasons.
Last year, Nakajima hit .311 with 13 homers and 74 RBI in 136 games for the Lions.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.