After an off day on Monday the Oakland Athletics are back in action, beginning a two-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Left-hander Sean Manaea will be on the mound for the A’s, looking to continue his red-hot start to the season. Manaea is 1-1 with a 1.15 ERA in two starts this season, striking out 11 over 15.2 total innings of work.
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He’s easily been the Athletics’ best pitcher so far this season and has the potential to carry that title through to the end of the year. With Kendall Graveman struggling, Manaea is primed to be the team’s ace moving forward, and deservedly so.
The Dodgers will send their own lefty to the mound in Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu struggled in his first start of the season in Arizona, allowing five hits, three earned runs and five walks in 3 2/3 innings pitched.
He currently holds a career ERA of 3.44, a solid mark, but he hasn’t been at his best since 2014 when he went 14-7 with a 3.38 ERA.
Ryu is certainly beatable, and the Athletics’ offense would be wise to attack him early.
Oh, and no DH! This will be fun.
Will the offense show up?
The Athletics were rolling offensively before running into the brick wall that is Shohei Ohtani. Prior to Sunday’s loss, the A’s had scored 25 runs over their last four games.
They’ll look to pick up the pace again tonight against Ryu and the Dodgers. Fans shouldn’t have to worry about the Athletics being no-hit for 7 1/3 innings again, well, at least for tonight.
New faces
The Athletics have had to make multiple roster moves of late due to injuries to Chad Pinder and Boog Powell, both having been placed on the 10-day DL.
Next: A’s call up top prospect Franklin Barreto
Mark Canha and top-prospect Franklin Barreto were called up to fill the void and it’ll be interesting to see whether they appear on the lineup during this two-game set. Barreto ideally plays infield, but can move to the outfield if needed.
Canha can primarily play in the outfield, offering up depth behind Jake Smolinski and Trayce Thompson, and he also has experience at first base.