Oakland Athletics Report Card: A’s Below Average In May
The Oakland Athletics went 12-15 in May and finished the month in last place of the AL West. There were a few bright spots in the month of May, but Bob Melvin‘s group failed to find consistency.
The A’s will enter June in last place of the AL West with a record of 23-29. Bob Melvin’s group struggled to find consistency throughout the month, thanks in part to various injuries that tested the team’s depth.
Bob Melvin’s group closes out May sitting 14 games behind the 1st place Astros. The deficit is rather large and seeming insurmountable.
It would be a shock if the A’s front office sat in the idle position in June, especially if the team continues to struggle.
The A’s had opportunities to succeed in the month of May, but a few miscues and blown saves made it a month to forget.
Melvin can only hope that his team can learn from its past mistakes and come out swinging in June.
For now, though, let’s take a look back on the month of May.
Jump ahead to view our grades for the A’s in the following categories: offense, defense, starting rotation, and bullpen.
The Offense
The A’s offense was powered by Yonder Alonso and his 10 home runs in May. The first baseman, who has had a breakout season at age 30, hit .302/.421/.825 in May.
Oakland’s offense has been hit or miss this year, literally.
Like Alonso, the A’s have displayed a surprising amount of power at the plate, totaling 43 home runs in May.
The A’s have acquired a taste for the long ball, but they’ve also apparently grown fond of striking out, too.
The team struck out a staggering 244 times in May.
When Beane & Company set out to solidify the lineup, the hope was to build a team with a disciplined approach at the plate. That hope has been largely unanswered.
Khris Davis collected six homers in May, but also whiffed 34 times. He started the year with a 29.3% strikeout rate, but it was less worrisome because he had a walk rate of 15.2%.
The strikeout rate in May climbed to 31.5% and the walk rate dipped to 8.3%. Overall, Davis put together a miserable .194/.269/.408 line in May.
Another Davis also struggled in May for the A’s.
Rajai Davis, who was brought in to provide a spark at the top of the order, failed miserably in May.
The speedy outfielder put together an even less impressive stat line in May. His .191/.234/.258 line is alarming. His .234 OBP is perhaps the biggest cause for concern.
Oakland’s lack of production from its lead-off spot is one of the reasons why the team’s offense hasn’t had any consistency this year.
The A’s will need to find ways to get on base and stay disciplined at the plate. The team has put on a few good offensive showings this year, but in May struggled to put together quality at-bats.
Overall Grade: D
Honor Roll (in May):
Yonder Alonso: .302/.421/.825, 10 HR, 17 RBI
Jed Lowrie: .303/.378/.515, 4 HR, 11 RBI
Ryon Healy: 306/.340/.541, 6 HR, 14 RBI
Needs Improvement:
Khris Davis: .194/.269/.408, 6 HR, 15 RBI
Rajai Davis: .191/.234/.258, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Matt Joyce: .211/.337/.394, 3 HR, 11 RBI
The Defense
The A’s have committed the most errors in baseball with 51. Their .973 fielding percentage is the lowest mark in the majors.
Oakland’s defense has been inconsistent the last few years, after maintaining a strong reputation for excellent defense in the early to mid 2000’s.
Among the team leaders in errors are Ryon Healy (6), Trevor Plouffe (6), Stephen Vogt (6) and Mark Canha (4).
The A’s acquired Plouffe this offseason with the hopes that he would anchor third base. He’s been rather lackluster in his first year with Oakland and his defense has been just as unimpressive.
Plouffe’s -1.5 UZR is an improvement from last year’s -7.7 with the Twins, but the A’s will need better coverage defensively.
Plouffe has never been widely regarded as a stellar defender, but the A’s need at least average efficiency from Plouffe.
Healy has had his struggles this season, but the A’s hope the young infielder will play a larger role in the team’s future. The team’s youth movement will likely come sooner rather than later if veteran players like Plouffe continue to struggle.
Overall Grade: C-
The Starting Rotation
Entering the month of May, the A’s had plenty to be happy about in regards to their rotation. The Kendall Graveman-led rotation was holding its own entering May before slowing down in May.
Graveman and Jesse Hahn were both lost to injuries in May.
Andrew Triggs, a surprise in April, did face his share of struggles in May. Triggs went 1-3 with a 3.45 ERA in five May starts after going 4-1 with a 1.84 ERA in April.
The numbers in May weren’t terrible for Triggs, but they were starting to trend in the wrong direction.
He held opponents to a .193 average in April, but got hit a bit harder in May and opposing offenses hit .261 against him. His walk rate also rose from 5.1% in April to 8.2% in May.
Jharel Cotton was sent down early in the month before returning to face the Yankees on May 27.
Gray Returns…
Perhaps the biggest story for the A’s in May was Sonny Gray‘s return. Gray, 27, has been a leader for the A’s since his emergence in 2013, but struggled through an injury plagued 2016 season.
The A’s ace started the year on the disabled list, but returned on May 2nd in Minnesota against the Twins. The right-hander went six innings and allowed four runs on five hits.
Gray went on to have several more “meh” starts before turning in a dominant performance against the Miami Marlins on May 24th. Gray went seven innings and struck out 11 (one shy of his career high) in the A’s 4-1 win over the Marlins.
He was rocked in his last start against the Indians, however. The Indians tagged Gray for seven runs (all earned) and did so on 9 hits through 4.2 innings.
Gray’s recent start came as a surprise for many, especially after he had pieced together a nice two game winning streak before falling in Cleveland.
The A’s will likely try to flip Gray at the trade deadline this year, but will only do so if the price is right.
Overall Grade: C
The Bullpen
The A’s weakest link has been its defense, but the bullpen is a close second. Some will even say the two weaknesses are interchangeable.
Bob Melvin has made a few poor decisions this year in regards to his bullpen. The whole closer by committee almost never works and yet the team experimented with it in April.
The team finally decided to hand the 9th inning to Santiago Casilla, though, in May.
The results?
Terrible…
Casilla was awful in the month of May.
In 8.1 innings of work, Casilla posted a 6.48 ERA and opponents hit .306/.419/.441 off him. The A’s signed him to a two-year $11 million deal. The A’s gave away some free cash this past winter, or so it seems.
Ryan Dull, another important piece to Oakland’s bullpen, has struggled to find consistency this year. He struggled in April, but he has really struggled in May.
With six innings of work in May, Dull went out and allowed six runs and allowed opponents to hit .261 off him. Dull played well in 2016, but his struggles this year have cast a large shadow over his past accomplishments.
He hardly looks like the same player.
The team did get a few solid contributions from Ryan Madson, Liam Hendricks and Frankie Montas in the month of May.
Madson went 1-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings of work. Hendricks went 1-0 with a 1.46 over 12.1 innings of work.
Montas, the young flamethrower, has had his share of struggles this year. He did show some good potential, though, in May. He posted a 3.55 ERA over nine appearances in May.
Bob Melvin will need to address Casilla’s struggles in June if the team wants any sort of consistency in June. The team has plenty of options, but Madson seems like the logical choice to replace Casilla.