Despite Team’s Downfalls, Sonny Remains in the Hunt
The Oakland Athletics’ Friday night loss to the Diamondbacks was just another classic example of how league-leading ERA pitcher Sonny Gray’s season has gone. With a season filled with both defensive and bullpen downfalls, those faults by others, which are out of his control, may be costing him the Cy Young award for this season.
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Gray, who is 12-6 with a 2.13 ERA, only allowed two earned runs in the A’s 6-4 loss, which saw two passed balls by catcher Stephen Vogt and a massive two-run HR by Paul Goldschmidt surrendered by the bullpen before the A’s attempted to come back with two runs in the ninth. After pitching five shutout innings of two-hit ball, and with a 2-0 lead, two passed balls as well as an ill-advised cut-off of a throw to the plate allowed the Diamondbacks to tie the game in the sixth. In the seventh, Gray surrendered what should have been his only run allowed when Bob Melvin brought in Pat Venditte with Gray still on the line for the win. Venditte allowed the inherited runner to score and quickly dished up Goldschmidt’s home run, leading to a four-run deficit and Gray’s undeserved (again) sixth loss of the season.
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Gray, who has repeatedly left the game with a lead only to see it surrendered, would have a much better record if not for the A’s bullpen and defensive miscues of 2015. His last appearance on Aug. 22 saw him get a no-decision after leaving with a lead. The previous appearance, Aug. 16, saw him on the losing end of a 4-2 game where three runs were unearned due to A’s errors. Aug. 2 saw no decision, despite only giving up one run, because A’s bats were dead until extra innings. Before that, versus the Blue Jays on July 22, Gray left with a 3-1 lead only to have the bullpen blow that for a no decision.
At this point, Gray’s 12-6 record is good on its own merit, but Gray could have a record of 18-3 if the bullpen hadn’t let him down so much this season. The Athletics bullpen also blew saves for potential Gray wins on June 19, May 8, and April 11. Defensive miscues and quiet bats also figured into Gray’s losses on May 13 where he only gave up one earned run, and in a June 9 game that saw the A’s score only one run for Gray in a 2-1 loss. Gray’s stats show he is the least hittable starter in the American League, giving up only 132 hits in 181.2 innings pitched.
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The bullpen is obviously the albatross around the neck of the Athletics, at the same time when defense is the team’s Achilles’ heel. The bullpen’s blown saves and inability to maintain a hold, combined with a league leading 103 errors, have affected other pitchers, and it’s unfathomable what the team’s record would be if those numbers were even just cut in half. Even with all those factors, you have to hand it to Sonny, as he still stays on the forefront of candidates for a 2015 Cy Young Award.
The last Oakland pitcher to win the Cy Young Award was Barry Zito in 2002. Before that, it was Dennis Eckersley in 1992 and Bob Welch in 1990. In 1971, Vida Blue took home the Cy Young along with the MVP, and Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter won the award 1974. All those years the Athletics made it to the post season.