The first home stand is official over and there are definitely some things that stood out over the first seven games of the season. The biggest thing is that the hot hitting the club had going at the end of spring didn’t follow them back to Oakland. The lineup has struggled in the early going, scoring just 15 runs over the first seven games, which averages out to 2.14 runs/game. It’s still early but it is concerning. Players expected to be big parts of the offense like Brent Rooker (2-20), Zack Gelof (4-27), Ryan Noda (5-25 with 9/2 K/BB ratio), and Seth Brown (2-22) have gotten off to really tough starts and that’s probably a huge piece of why they’ve sputtered out of the gate.
On the other side, outfielder JJ Bleday has been looking solid at the plate and okay in center field. Again, it’s a short sample but Bleday was once the 4th overall pick in the MLB Draft, and could finally be tapping into his huge potential. This is exactly what the A’s were hoping for when they bought low on Bleday and traded AJ Puk to acquire him. He doesn’t have anyone breathing down his neck for the center field job and is going to continue getting run out there.
But the best player for the team so far has been the new guy, third baseman JD Davis. The right-handed slugger leads the team with three bombs and a .364 batting average. He’s also yet to make an error at the hot corner, providing some quality defense for a club that’s broken the Oakland record for errors this early in the year.
On the pitching side it’s been much more of a roller coaster among the starting pitchers. That first turn through the rotation was very rough, except for Paul Blackburn. The other starters all pitched 14 2⁄3 innings while allowing a whopping 22 runs. Borderline embarrassing from the starting five. It’s been a lot better so far through the second time through as Alex Wood pitched a solid 5 innings against the Red Sox followed by Ross Stripling allowing just one run in seven frames. It would be encouraging to see the rest of the starting staff follow the two veterans and improve upon their first starts.
Sadly they won’t be able to try today as it’s the very first off day for the club this season. They head on the road for the first time as well, heading to Detroit to kick off a quick 2-city road trip. Lefty JP Sears will be getting the ball Friday night against a Tigers team that’s also gotten off to a slow start offensively. That hasn’t stopped them from going undefeated to this point in the season, sitting atop the AL Central. It’s about time to give them an L.
The origin of 'AI Appreciation Day' isn't what you think: It was started by an Elon Musk admirer who camped outside of SpaceX Starbase for a year hoping to talk to the billionaire about AI regulation
В демоверсию Silver Palace можно будет поиграть 3 августа в Китае
В Pokémon TCG Pocket обновится система торговли карточками
Destiny 2 Phoneutria Fera god roll guide: Best perks, barrels, and magazines
Органами прокуратуры в сфере надзора за исполнением законодательства при реализации национальных проектов в первом полугодии 2025 года выявлено более тысячи нарушений
Владимир Ефимов: На станции «Рублево-Архангельское» стартовали монолитные работы
Собянин: Первый участок Рублево-Архангельской линии метро полностью пройден
Архангельская область - не самое перспективное место для трудоустройства
