Social media down on the Oakland A’s playoff chances
Based on social media, the Oakland A’s do not stand a chance in the postseason.
Social media outlets are a forum for opinions. Good or bad. Many Oakland A’s fans have taken to Twitter to question the leadership of the 2020 American League champions. Some have even suggested an entire dismantling of the coaching staff.
“I’m gonna say it now. If BoMel [A’s manager Bob Melvin] doesn’t get thru to his guys by – expletive deleted – TUESDAY to hit the damn ball, he shouldn’t be brought back for 2021. Like, when is the team gonna breakthrough?” “Bob ‘Good, Not Great’ Melvin.”
Currently, Melvin has managed one team longer than any other skipper in MLB. He has led the A’s for 10 years, leading them to a 767-688 regular-season record. He is a two-time AL Manager of the Year (2012 and 2018), had has been at the helm for two 97-win seasons, a 96-win season, and a 94-win season. Of course, the A’s have recently faced a Houston Astros juggernaut.
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Fairly, tweets have pointed out that the A’s have been “one and done” in the last two Wild Card games. This year, the A’s play a best two out of three series in Oakland against a hard-hitting, but inexperienced Chicago White Sox team beginning September 29. Both teams come in cold. The A’s are 5-5 in their last ten games and the White Sox are 2-8 which includes a six-game losing streak.
Melvin has chosen 22-year-old lefthander Jesus Luzardo as the opening game starter. The White Sox have a team batting average of .285 against left-handed pitching in 2020, 31 points higher than against right-handers. The two teams have not faced each other this season.
“The hitting coach definitely needs to be fired. We are second to last in batting average in the AL. So many guys’ averages are soooo bad.” “I’ve been asking the same question now since his first full year working for the A’s: Why is Darren Bush still the Athletics hitting coach?”
It is easy to blame the hitting coach when the team is scuffling at the plate. Bush took over hitting coach duties in 2015 after the popular Chili Davis left to become hitting coach of the Boston Red Sox. The A’s hit just .225 as a team in the pandemic-shortened season, but virtually all teams had down years. Matt Olson had 14 home runs but batted .195 with 75 strikeouts. SS Marcus Simien and DH Khris Davis struggled in 2020. Team leader Matt Chapman was lost late in the season with hip surgery.
MLB.com has matched up the two teams and given the seventh-seeded White Sox an advantage at every position except second base, DH, and bullpen. Even respected media outlets are down on the A’s chances.
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Oakland did win nine in a row this season. But one tweet simply stated “Not a good team right now. No emotion.”
Only the Oakland A’s can prove tweeters and experts wrong.