Oakland Athletics Report Card: Below Average Grades For June
The grades are in. The A’s went 12-16 in June and continued to struggle collectively throughout the month. Let’s briefly recap the A’s month of June.
The Oakland Athletics entered July with a 35-45 record. But just like they did with June, the A’s flopped on the first day of the month with a 4-3 loss to the Braves.
Bob Melvin had to part ways with several of his veteran players in June due to lack of production. Things were, to be quite honest, ugly in June.
Trevor Plouffe and Stephen Vogt were both replaced by much younger options and the A’s finally embraced their youth.
Matt Chapman and Franklin Barreto both made their debuts in June. They are expected to help the A’s usher in a new era of baseball for the city of Oakland. With Chapman and Barreto the A’s are hoping the two infielders are players who can carry the franchise into the future.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s disappointing month of June will likely result in many more trades and transactions. Sonny Gray, Jed Lowrie, Ryan Madson and Yonder Alonso are all getting much deserved attention from scouts.
Heading into July, though, the A’s are hoping for better results. Those results will depend on whether or not Bob Melvin’s group can learn from their mistakes in June. Let’s take a look at the grades the A’s received for their June performance.
OFFENSE
The A’s had a few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing June. It is unlikely that the A’s will ever admit, but Yonder Alonso’s breakout this season has been surprising. No one expected Alonso’s value would be very high, but his contributions have been All-Star worthy.
After hitting .303 with 10 HR and 17 RBIs in May, however, Alonso’s bat slowed down big time in June. He hit .267 with 3 HR and 7 RBIs in June. He also struck out 26 times in June compared to his mark of 17 in May.
But back to the bright spots. Despite Alonso’s dip, the A’s received a huge help from Khris Davis. Davis struggled in May, but bounced back nicely in June and slashed .299/.372/.523 with 5 HR and 22 RBIs.
Davis continues to strikeout at an alarming rate (32.2%), but his power numbers are still impressive.
Jed Lowrie continues to prove that he’s a worthy trade target. Last month the A’s infielder hit .277 with 3 HR and 12 RBIs. He is currently considered a lock to be traded. The A’s welcomed Franklin Barreto in June and with Marcus Semien working his way back, Lowrie seems like the odd man out.
Ryon Healy continued his impressive campaign by collecting 10 HR and 26 RBIs in June. He hit .265 in the month and helped the A’s generate some much needed offense. Healy figures to be a key player in the A’s future. Pairing him with Chapman and Barreto would give the A’s a nice core group to build around over the next few years.
The A’s did struggle a bit offensively and certain veterans were given the boot as a result. Trevor Plouffe and Stephen Vogt failed to get going and the A’s decided to ramp up their youth movement efforts.
Grade: C
The A’s have established themselves, somewhat surprisingly, as a power driven offense. When the A’s hit home runs, things look good. When the “pop” is noticeably absent, Bob Melvin’s crew struggles to generate runs. Moving forward, the A’s will need to find better consistency at the plate.
STARTING PITCHING
You know things are not going well when you fire your pitching coach. The A’s fired long-time coach Curt Young after the team’s ERA continued to inflate.
The A’s were without Kendall Graveman and Andrew Triggs was absolutely rocked before hitting the DL in June. In two starts, Triggs, who had been successful in April, allowed 14 runs in just 7.1 innings of work.
Meanwhile, Sonny Gray was much more successful in June than he was in May. Gray went 1-2 with a 3.52 ERA in June. Over 38.1 innings, Gray recorded 38 strikeouts.
Gray’s value is slowly climbing back up in the right direction and the A’s are seemingly eager to flip Gray for a few talented prospects. The asking price will likely be high and the A’s won’t let Gray go for cheap. There have been plenty of rumblings, but nothing has transpired just yet.
With his stronger showing in June, however, expect the A’s to get a deal done before the deadline this month.
Sean Manaea was relatively solid in June and went 3-1 with a 3.82 ERA. If Gray is shipped out of Oakland, it is possible Manaea steps into an ace role for the A’s.
Prospect Daniel Gossett was called up in June, but struggled against his first taste of major league hitters. He went 1-3 with a 5.57 ERA over four starts.
And let’s not get started on Jesse Hahn. He struggled throughout the month of June thanks to two appearances against the AL West leading Astros.
Grade: D+
The A’s were led by Gray and Manaea, but no one else provided stability in the rotation. The rotation was figured to be a strength heading into the season, but injuries have maxed out the A’s depth this year. Expect things to get only worse when the A’s ultimately trade Gray.
BULLPEN
The A’s need to move on from Santiago Casilla. I repeat, the A’s need to move on from Santiago Casilla. Yes, they gave him a two-year deal, but there must be a way for the team to find a trade partner willing to take on Casilla’s contract.
Casilla enjoyed his most productive month in June, but the A’s closer continues to bring unwanted drama in the ninth inning. He has blown three saves this season and has given plenty of A’s fans a few grey hairs in the process.
The standout for the bullpen has been Ryan Madson. He is having an impressive season and could ultimately be trade bait at this year’s trade deadline. Perhaps the only roadblock is Madson’s price tag. He’s a bit expensive at $7.5 million per year. He has one year remaining on his three-year contract.
Daniel Coulombe is having himself a rather impressive season as well. Coulombe put together a productive month of June. He went 1-1 with a 0.84 ERA over 10.2 innings of work.
Moving past Madson, Coulombe, and even Sean Doolittle, the A’s did not receive much from John Axford or Liam Hendricks.
Grade: D+
Yes, the A’s got solid production from Casilla this month. Don’t count on his production to continue to trend in the right direction, though. Billy Beane and David Forst would be smart to flip Casilla now rather than later.
Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Coulombe provided some stability in the bullpen, but were weighed down heavily by Axford and Hendricks. Michael Brady hasn’t worked out either. The A’s bullpen has been shaky at best this year.
Overall: D+
The A’s enter July without much of a shot at the playoffs. The division is out of the question and the Wild Card is slipping further and further away from reality.
Bob Melvin and the rest of Oakland’s coaches will need to find ways to get the most out of their younger players. The team figures to only get younger as Gray, Lowrie, Alonso, Madson and perhaps even Doolittle are all expected to generate trade interest this month.
The A’s decision to build for the future will likely result in more losses than wins this year. Giving their younger players some exposure and playing time, though, will help ease the pain moving forward.