Oakland Athletics: Five Things That Went Wrong In 2015

2. Inability to Win One-Run Games

Sep 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Billy Burns (1) hits a single against the Houston Astros during the third inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Even though there were times where the A’s greatly out hit their opponents, there were many more instances where they could not generate that one run to either tie or win the game. The Oakland Athletics were 19-35 in one-run games in 2015. Interestingly enough, their success in one-run games has been slowly declining since 2013.

In 2013, the Athletics won 30 out of 20 one-run games. In 2014, it dipped a little to only 21-28 in one-run games. This season was by far their worst.

For some reason, Oakland’s bats could not get going when they really needed it. Despite having some healthy and strong hitters in the lineup the entire season like Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick, the A’s just could not pull it out. As a team, they were just not timely hitters this year.

In addition, some players definitely underperformed this season – Butler being the most obvious one. However, Brett Lawrie was also quite a disappointment and Coco Crisp, who is known as the spark at the top of the Athletics’ lineup, only played in 44 games this season due to injury. Oakland needs to make sure their batters are healthy and that they will make a real difference in the lineup at those important moments or else the A’s will record another losing season in 2016.

Next: 1. The Bullpen