Oakland Athletics a Team of Extremes
The Oakland Athletics are a team of extremes. Last season they held the best record in baseball into August only to end the season with an MLB-worst free fall. Those extremes were manifested in the Wild Card game where A’s fans went through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Yes, that was last season and we are ready to start anew in 2015, as evidenced by the almost completely new lineup. However, one can’t help but feel we are seeing two distinct sides of the Oakland A’s showing some extremes so far in this young season.
Monday night could not have been scripted more perfectly for fans that have waited a decade to see the green and gold pull out an opening day victory. Not only did they win, but the Athletics’ true ace Sonny Gray kept everyone holding their breath with a no-hit bid into the eighth inning. The A’s offense supported the excellent pitching and defense, with notable contributions by Oakland newcomer Ben Zobrist who homered in his first at-bat as an Athletic, and fan favorite Stephen Vogt who had a three-run home run to punctuate an emphatic opening statement by the A’s.
Tuesday brought the Athletics back down to earth as they fell to the Texas Rangers by a score of 3-1. Jesse Hahn, acquired in the offseason trade for Derek Norris, pitched well according to manager Bob Melvin, but the run-happy A’s from the night before didn’t make the same showing for their new pitcher. That brings us to Wednesday night’s hit parade which showcased a right-hand-heavy lineup featuring two players making their MLB debut, infielders Tyler Ladendorf and Mark Canha.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 may have been just another night for many, but for the two aforementioned rookies, this night was historic. Canha and Ladendorf contributed a total of four hits and six RBIs in their first big league appearances, leading to another lopsided 10-0 victory for the Oakland Athletics riding high on the equally great pitching of Scott Kazmir. Then, after all that excitement, the A’s came out Thursday afternoon without their “A” game.
Expectations were high for Kendall Graveman, newly acquired pitcher for the Athletics who had a stellar spring, allowing only one run in 25 1/3 innings. But he didn’t bring his best stuff against the big bats of Texas, who pegged him for eight runs (seven earned) in an eventual 10-1 loss for the A’s. Of course three errors and only one run knocked in by new shortstop Marcus Semien did not help much as Texas more than tripled their run production in the last game of the series than in the first three combined.
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So which Oakland Athletics team will rear its head against the AL West favorite Seattle Mariners? The A’s better strike first against the young arms pitching for Seattle on Friday and Saturday, because come Sunday the Athletics will have to face all-too-familiar foe “King” Felix Hernandez who has stifled previous Oakland lineups. It will also be interesting to see what roster moves happen as Josh Reddick is set to resume his position in right field this weekend after sidelined most of the spring with an oblique injury.
Next: All The Info You Need: The Oakland Athletics 2015 Almanac