By Casey Pratt
CSN Bay Area
OAKLAND -- Where is Manny? When will Manny be here? The A's offense is struggling, why don't the A's just call up Manny? There has been a lot of buzz around Manny Ramirez since he was eligible to join the A's on May 30, which was also his 40th birthday. All the questions have simple answers. Ramirez hasn't played in Triple-A since June 2. "I don't think too much about it," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "I just look at the game reports and listen to what they are saying. But it's not like I have a specific date in mind that I think he'll be here." If the A's weren't going to give him a call up when he had played in eight of nine games for the River Cats, hitting just .243 (9-for-37) with no extra base hits -- they certainly aren't going to bring him up when he isn't even playing. I am the only A's beat writer that talked to Manny and watched him play in Sacramento. At the time he seemed hesitant to declare himself ready to face MLB-caliber pitching. He stressed the need to see as many pitches as possible. Well, lately he hasn't been seeing any pitching because of a hamstring issue. He has missed five of six games since the day A's decided not to call him up. The one game he did play on June 2, he only had one at-bat -- he singled and then pulled himself out of the game. Melvin said Ramirez is going to test out his sore leg and possibly play Friday for the River Cats, who are on the road against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. When pressed on if Ramirez might never arrive, Melvin said that it is too early to make that judgement. The A's certainly won't be in a hurry to bring him up. They enter interleague play again this weekend, and Ramirez is only a DH at this point in his career. The A's will be playing in National League parks until June 14.