A's Russell out month with torn hamstring

A's top prospect Addison Russell will miss at least a month with a torn right hamstring, the team confirmed Wednesday night.

Oakland's first-round pick in 2012 is dealing with a Grade 3 strain of his hamstring. The tear is believed to be higher up in Russell's leg than the area he strained earlier this year during Spring Training. He was placed on Double-A Midland's seven-day disabled listed retroactive to April 5.

Russell homered April 4, but left Midland's game after three innings with what was considered a cramp at the time.

"It caught me off guard, so I told [RockHounds manager Aaron Nieckula] I didn't want to risk it. He said, 'All right, I believe you,' and took me out of the game," Russell said after the game. "It's feeling good now. It's frustrating, but you've got to play it safe."

Russell said the injury wasn't similar in feeling or location to the earlier incident in March.

"It's not as low as the strain. This was close to my butt," he said after the game. "It's feeling better right now. It really happened so recently, but we're going to take a close look at it with the trainers after the game and we'll see how it feels [Saturday]."

Russell, 20, is 5-for-7 with a homer, two RBIs and a stolen base in two games this year for the RockHounds, Oakland's Texas League affiliate. He spent most of 2013 with Class A Advanced Stockton, hitting .275 with 17 homers, 60 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and a .377 on-base percentage in 107 games while also appearing in three game for Triple-A Sacramento last year.

The shortstop, who earned a spot on the Arizona Fall League's All-Prospect Team last year, went 7-for-25 in a dozen Major League Spring Training games with Oakland last month.

A 2013 MiLB.com A's All-Star, Russell is ranked as the A's top prospect and the No. 12 overall prospect by MLB.com. The 2013 Futures Game selection signed with Oakland out of Pace (Fla.) High School after signing a letter of intent to play at Auburn in 2012.