It is easy to blame Lou Trivino for the Oakland A’s current situation. His two week implosion at the end of August and into September led to the A’s falling out of a wild card berth, facing an uphill battle in their quest to return to the postseason. Now, as they are 3.5 games out of a wild card spot with five games left to play, they essentially need to win out in order to have even a slight chance at making up that ground.
But Trivino is not the only reliever to have struggled when the A’s needed them most. The erstwhile closer has blown four saves all season, with two of those coming in that horrific two week stretch. The rest of the A’s bullpen also deserves a share of the blame for the team’s collapse.
Oakland A’s bullpen shares blame for lost season
As ownership refused to spend any money this offseason, this left the A’s with few relievers that the coaching staff could trust. Trivino, Jake Diekman, Yusmeiro Petit, and Sergio Romo were essentially run into the ground as Bob Melvin could not go to any of the other arms in his bullpen. While Andrew Chafin helped, it was too little too late.
Even then, those arms caused harm. Diekman blew seven saves this season to lead the A’s. He was not the only one at fault, as Petit blew six saves and Romo had four blown saves. Considering that none of those relievers were entrusted with the ninth inning on a frequent basis, those numbers are certainly noteworthy.
That gives the A’s 21 blown saves from their top four relievers prior to the trade deadline. If they had been able to convert even half of those opportunities, this would not be close to being a topic of conversation – the A’s would be comfortably in a playoff berth and we would all be anticipating a postseason run.
Instead, the A’s refusal to spend in free agency came back to bite them in the end. Adding more pieces to the bullpen aside from Petit and Romo could have made a difference. Those relievers would not have been ridden into the ground, leading to this late season collapse.
Lou Trivino may be the whipping boy when it comes to the Oakland A’s not making the postseason, but he is hardly the only issue. The entire bullpen is to blame.