Oakland Athletics: Five Things That Went Wrong In 2015

3. Inexperienced Rookies

Sep 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien (10) controls the ball against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Athletics relied on their rookies a lot this season. From making Marcus Semien their everyday starting shortstop to bringing up Burns to cover centerfield for most of the season, the A’s definitely made good use of their young players.

Some of those players shined. Burns was a pleasant surprise both at the plate and in the field. Canha, who got off to a slow start during the first half of the season, really broke out of his shell and was great offensively during the second half. These two still made their fair share of mistakes – Burns with some base running problems and Canha with some fielding errors in the outfield – but overall they performed well. However, not all of the rookies found the same success as Burns and Canha.

One rookie who probably made the most mistakes this season was Semien. He committed a total of 35 errors this season, which was the most in the MLB. However, once infield specialist Ron Washington joined the team in May, Semien’s defensive slowly improved. By the end of the season, he was doing much better at shortstop.

In addition to Semien, some of the A’s rookie starters also struggled at the beginning of the year – especially Kendall Graveman. Graveman, who was lights out during spring training, had a rough time during the first month of the season.  He was actually sent back down to Triple-A to regain his confidence and returned by the end of May.

Many of the young starting pitchers were not use to the workload that is required of a Major League starter and ended up incurring injuries from being overworked. By the end of the season, almost the entire starting rotation from April and May had landed on the disabled list. Let’s hope that this offseason they continue to build their strength and skills in preparation for a long 2016 season.

Next: 2. Inability to Win One-Run Games