Oakland Athletics Report Card: Below Average Grades For June

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.