Oakland A’s on a roll heading into challenging East Coast trip
It’s barely a month into the season, but the A’s are one of the biggest surprises – and mysteries – in the majors.
While the dark cloud of their impending move to Sacramento next season and then Las Vegas as soon as 2028 looms over the franchise, the A’s have provided some light on the field with a somewhat surprising 8-11 start.
Now comes a challenging 10-game East Coast trip that begins Friday in Cleveland that could go a long way in providing a clearer picture of what the rest of the A’s final season in Oakland might look like.
Even with some encouraging signs, the A’s have their work cut out for them. Their run differential of minus-22 is the fifth-worst in the majors, and they are projected to finish with 90 losses, according to the latest from FanGraphs.
But as of Thursday, they had more wins than preseason playoff contenders the Astros and Twins, and as many as the Giants. Last season, with largely the same roster, the A’s didn’t win their eighth game until May 6. That was their 34th game in a season that saw them finish 50-112.
It seemed like more of the same when the A’s lost their first three games this season and seven of their first eight. But they are 7-4 since, including a road series win against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers.
This trip will be even more challenging and perhaps more telling.
Cleveland and the New York Yankees, a four-game series on the second stop, are division leaders. Then they cap the trip next weekend with three games in Baltimore, where the Orioles are nipping at the Yankees’ heels in the A.L. East and might be the best team in the American League.
Overall, the A’s play 20 of their next 30 games on the road. The 4-2 trip through Detroit and Texas last week was just their third winning trip since 2021.
“We’re playing great baseball right now,” A’s starter Paul Blackburn told Martin Gallegos of MLB.com after Oakland concluded its most recent homestand with a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. “The energy is at an all-time high right now for us. It’s not just coming from guys that are in the game. It’s coming from everyone. It’s definitely a group effort right now, and it shows.”
– The A’s didn’t have a whole lot of leads to protect a year ago, but still managed to tie for the fifth-most blown leads in the majors with 42, including four in the ninth inning.
The bullpen has been much more consistent so far this season, and Mason Miller is emerging as a lock-down closer.
Miller has not allowed a run in his past six appearances after allowing two in the ninth inning of an already out-of-hand 12-3 loss to Cleveland.
Since that season debut, Miller has pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks with 16 strikeouts. He’s 4-for-4 in save opportunities.
Not only is the 26-year-old right-hander effective, he’s been electric. Miller leads the majors with 64 pitches of at least 100 mph – White Sox reliever Michael Kopech is second with 32. Miller retired the final out of Wednesday’s win by throwing a 102-mph fastball past Brendan Donovan, one of nine pitches of at least 100 mph he threw in the ninth.
– Much of the A’s success in the past two weeks has been the result of better pitching and defense.
After being outscored 49-19 in the first eight games – when they went 1-7 – A’s pitchers have a combined 2.64 ERA over the past 11 games.
The defensive turnaround has been even more impressive. After the A’s committed 13 fielding errors in the first five games, they have made just four in their past 14 games.
– Spring training statistics typically don’t mean much, but in Blackburn’s case, his 13 ⅔ innings scoreless streak to break camp proved to be a good indicator of how locked in the veteran right-hander was to start the regular season.
Blackburn allowed his first runs of the season on Wednesday, his fourth start. He stretched his Oakland franchise-record scoreless streak to 22 ⅓ innings before allowing three runs in the fourth inning against the Cardinals.
Matt Keough had held the consecutive scoreless innings to open a season by an Oakland pitcher with 16 in 1980.
– Clearly, much has changed for the A’s since they opened the season against the Guardians. Oakland lost three straight before Abraham Toro’s walk-off walk salvaged the series finale.
Since then, the Guardians lost ace Shane Bieber to season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery, but have barely missed a beat.
Offensively, the Guardians have been receiving a huge spark from Fremont’s Steven Kwan, who is emerging as one of the top leadoff hitters in the game. He’s opened the season with a .376 on-base percentage and has reached base (and has a hit) in 15 of his first 18 games. He’s only walked three times, but was too busy racking up 29 base hits, second to only the Astros’ Jose Altuve and the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani after Thursday night.
– With fans frustrated and devastated about losing their team, it’s no surprise attendance at the Coliseum has been abysmal.
The A’s have had an announced attendance of more than 10,000 once – Opening Day – and are averaging 6,244 fans through their first 13 home games. They played before a season-low crowd of 3,296 in a loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday night.
The A’s played before an average crowd of more than 26,000 on their opening trip. They’ll face even bigger crowds on this one – the Guardians and Orioles are averaging more than 22K per home game and the Yankees are averaging nearly 40K per home game, second in the majors to just the Dodgers.
– Barring weather cancellations or injuries, the A’s likely will face the Orioles’ top two pitchers – Saint Mary’s College product Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez as well as former A’s left-hander Cole Irvin.