Oakland Athletics: Fall League Update
By Jason Burke
Oct 22, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of baseballs before game two of the 2014 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Through 15 games, the Mesa Solar Sox (comprised of Cubs, Angels, Nationals, A’s and Blue Jays prospects) are 8-7. If you’ve missed the big news, Addison Russell, who was on the team with the current A’s prospects, has removed himself from playing the rest of the season. No injury was reported, just time to rest and prepare for 2015.
Daniel Robertson, the hotshot shortstop in the Oakland Athletics system, is hitting .367 with a .513 on-base percentage, along with a home run and five rbi. Because the comparison will always be there, Russell hit just .196 with a .260 OBP, but had two home runs and ten rbi in sixteen more at-bats.
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The other bright spot for future A’s hopefuls comes from Boog Powell. The center fielder is batting .367 with an OBP of .441, while going deep twice and driving in nine, in thirty plate appearances, the same as Robertson.
Stockton’s home run king in 2014, Matt Olson, is mashing. Olson has four bombs, but just five rbi, and a batting average of .208. However, his OBP ranks 7th on the team (of 18 offensive players) at .424. Robertson ranks #1, and Powell #6.
On the pitching side of things, there is some work to be done. Austin House (7.36 ERA, 3 2/3 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks), Drew Granier (11.81, 5 1/3 IP, 8 hits, 7 runs, 3 walks) and Tanner Peters (4.91, 7 1/3 IP, 10 hits, 4 earned, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts) all have WHIPs (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched) around two. That being said, House and Peters rank 12th and 13th on the team in ERA out of twenty. In other words, they’re about average.
The standout Oakland Athletics’ prospect on the mound has a familiar name: Ryan Doolittle, younger brother of A’s closer Sean Doolittle. You may know him as the other kid in those pictures from Sean’s childhood that have circled Twitter.
Ryan Doolittle has yet to allow an earned run in seven innings, while giving up just three hits. Ryan, much like his brother, doesn’t like to walk batters. Thus far, the younger Doolittle has five strikeouts and zero walks.
The Arizona Fall League continues until November 15th, when the Championship Game will be played. On November 4th and 6th, the Mesa Solar Sox games will be live-streamed from mlb.com.