The Oakland Athletics’ starting rotation started off strong this season. With Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir leading the way, the starting pitching was the only bright spot throughout this dismal year. However, with all of the trades and injuries that have happened since July, the rotation has taken a turn for the worse.
First, on July 23, the A’s veteran ace Kazmir was traded to the Houston Astros. That was a big blow to the rotation since all of the starters were rookies who needed a veteran presence to look up too. Fortunately, the starters did not struggle too badly.
But then injury struck. Righty Jesse Hahn went down with a right forearm strain. Then Kendall Graveman landed on the disabled list with a strained left oblique. Finally, Chris Bassitt incurred a sore right shoulder just this past week. With all of these injuries, the A’s have had to bring up some of backup starters, who have not performed well since arriving in Oakland.
First there is Aaron Brooks. Brooks had two extremely good starts when he first came to the Athletics where he went seven innings and only allowed one run. However, his success seemed to be a fluke and he reverted to his usually ways soon after. On August 12 against the Toronto Blue Jays, he only pitched 1.2 innings and gave up eight runs. On September 4 against the Seattle Mariners, Brooks gave up six runs in 2.1 innings before being pulled from the game.
Then the A’s tried out Cody Martin. Martin was acquired back in early July from the Atlanta Braves for an international bonus slot. Unfortunately, Martin only made it three innings in his first start with the A’s. He allowed five runs and six hits throughout those innings. After this game, he was promptly sent back to Triple-A.
Additionally, when it comes to Felix Doubront and Jesse Chavez, they are just too inconsistent to be solid starters. Doubront can eat up innings easily, but at a price. Last outing, he pitched six innings but gave up four runs and walked four.
As seen in previous seasons, Chavez started out the year strong but has since faded. Despite having a combined 2.24 ERA for April and May, he had a 5.33 ERA in July and a 5.24 ERA in August. He is not meant to be a full season starter and should be stuck back in the bullpen as a long reliever.
With the struggles that are currently occurring within the starting rotation, let’s hope that the Oakland Athletics can quickly find a solution to this recurring issue. Perhaps they should test out Sean Manaea’s or Sean Nolin’s skills in the Majors since both are predicted to be in the running to earn a spot on next year’s rotation. Ideally, the regular starters like Bassitt, Graveman, and Hahn will be healthy for the 2016 season and this will not be an issue next year.