Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels: Who Wins in 2016?

Closer: Sean Doolittle vs. Huston Street

Oakland fans have always been familiar with Huston Street. Not only did the pitcher spend four years with the A’s, the first in which he was voted Rookie of the Year, but he has saved 12 games AGAINST the Athletics, as well. He scored 40 saves last year and averages more than 30 every year. It seems that in a year in which it looks as though he may retire, he will come back and surprise everyone by putting up monster numbers. Sean Doolittle is coming off of a bad shoulder injury, so he saved just four games last year. That’s 1/10 as many saves as Street.

Advantage: Angels

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Bullpen: Liam Hendriks, John Axford, Ryan Madson, Marc Rzepczynski vs. Joe Smith, Fernando Salas, Mike Morin, Al Alburquerque

The A’s have two former closers in their bullpen. So too do the Angels: Smith was their closer last year after Street fell to injury, and Salas closed for the Cardinals not too long ago in their 2011 championship season, although Jason Motte took over in that role late in the season. Of these Angels, only one had a better ERA than 4.21 last year: Joe Smith, the soft-throwing setup man. Compare that to the A’s, where the only underperformer was Rzepczynski, and even then he still put up a 3.75 strikeout-walk ratio against lefties.

What’s more entertaining is which bullpen wins for coolest names. Joe Smith isn’t going to wow anyone on the mound nor with his basic name, but the rest of these throwers have awesome names. Longest bullpen battle ever: Alburquerque vs. Rzepczynski? The Ax Man and Mad Dog on the same team? Fernando Salas, whom Chris Berman called “Tossed Salas?” Mike Morin, whom if you Google his name is simultaneously a radio host, mixed martial arts fighter, a used car salesman, a drummer, and a bed bug hunter?

Advantage: A’s

Next: Final Results