What a depressing start of the week for A’s fans - swept by the Kansas City Royals and scoring only 7 runs total over the series. Today was a game the A’s should have won with 13 hits and 6 walks. The glaring problem? Not a single extra base hit. On top of everything, the A’s decided to stick with Huston Street for a second inning with the game tied in the 10th - despite his recent troubles closing out games. Sure enough, he loaded the bases and proceeded to give up a sacrifice fly before being pulled after 2 outs in the top of the 10th. That lone run was enough for the Royals to win as the A’s got shut down easily in the bottom of the 10th. I won’t go into the details over my concerns with Street, which most A’s fans share, needless to say I still think he’s a talented pitcher but one who has seemingly lost his ability to close out games, get out of critical innings, or pitch more than 1 inning per appearance. Unlike some A’s fans, I don’t think he should be traded - at least not until he nails down a number of saves and brings his numbers back in line with what he has done in the past. His best value lies in his attractiveness as a closer - he’ll fetch far more on the trade market as an effective closer as opposed to a solid late innings relief pitcher. And with his recent struggles, the A’s wouldn’t get as much back as they could if he were more effective. So, he’s still young, cheap, under the A’s control, and he certainly has the talent to be better.
Regardless, while Street’s struggles are disturbing, the really ugly thing about this team is the offense and the complete lack of power. The only legitimate power threat is a guy who leads the league in walks and strikeouts - along with a less then threatening 0.226 BA. Cust will crush mistakes, but he’s not the kind of guy who is going to instill fear into the opposing pitcher.
This team ranks dead last in the AL in team BA and team SLG and second to last in team OBP. Only Toronto and Minnesota have fewer HR than Oakland. They also lead the league in strikeouts. It wouldn’t be so bad if they at least hit a lot of doubles, but the A’s are also second to last in extra base hits.
Yes, the A’s are a young team full of new players acquired in trades and young players struggle. Chavez is still on the DL and most likely will not be back this season, not to mention his days of playing 3B are probably over for good. Mike Sweeney will not be back this season as the cartilage in his knees is effectively gone - his career could be over. Travis Buck, while finally healthy, is simply not the same player he was last year. And Daric Barton, whom the A’s were counting on to provide solid production, displayed a disturbing lack of judgment diving into a shallow pool and screwing up his neck - he’s lucky he didn’t injure himself more seriously. Not that he was doing so well with the A’s anyways.
All that being said, it’s not really the younger daily players the A’s are counting on for future success that are the problem - it’s the veterans and AAAA fill-ins that are really dragging down the A’s offense:
Mark Ellis - 0.232 / 0.326 / 0.377 - 10 HR / 19 2B
Bobby Crosby - 0.249 / 0.307 / 0.353 - 4 HR / 27 2B
Emil Brown - 0.248 / 0.288 / 0.384 - 9 HR / 12 2B
Jack Hannahan - 0.242 / 0.329 / 0.363 - 5 HR / 22 2B
Ugh. I won’t even mention Rajai Davis, Matt Murton, Brooks Conrad, Donnie Murphy, Wes Bankston, or Eric Patterson.
However, the good news is that 3 of the players the A’s are hoping will be cornerstones for the future are playing pretty well:
Kurt Suzuki - 0.296 / 0.353 / 0.393 - 5 HR / 18 2B (remember the days of GIDP Kendall?)
Ryan Sweeney - 0.299 / 0.349 / 0.390 - 3 HR / 10 2B
Carlos Gonzalez - 0.271 / 0.307 / 0.411 - 3 HR / 18 2B
Again, the lack of power is a problem, but at least these 3 can be more or less relied upon to hit the ball on a consistent basis with the occasional walk and extra base hit. And hopefully those power numbers will start to rise as time goes onward. Still, it’s pretty sad when the 3 most consistent hitters on your active lineup have a total of 11 HR between them.
The one big thing that can help the A’s right now is a right handed power bat and Frank Thomas is just about ready to come off the DL. If The Big Hurt can come right back into the game hitting the ball over the fence without any significant adjustment period, he immediately improves the lineup. I don’t know where they will put him, but whoever hits in front of him will invariably see better pitches - provided Thomas can be counted on as a power threat. That should hopefully improve the middle of the lineup and you never know when the right kind of spark in a lineup can fire up some of the other batters as well. It’s unfortunate that Mike Sweeney won’t be back in the lineup either, the two of them added into the current lineup would be a welcome boost.
In the meantime, here’s hoping Travis Buck (0.171 with 9 SO over his last 10 games) and Daric Barton (0.208 since going down to AAA) can find their stroke and contribute again at the ML level. And the rest of you guys on the roster? Start hitting some homeruns!
