Oakland A's 2015 Season Thread

[Isaiah4110]

Any word on Griffin?
If the A's are in last place for a while, maybe Beane will trade Kazmir... maybe that happens anyway though.

I'm not sure what to make of this team. I'm used to them not being able to hit some days, but losing all of these games by 1 run is lousy. With the loss to Sea, A's are now 1-8 in games decided by 1 run so far this year and 0-5 in extra innings.

This team is going to be much more akin to the 2012 team than the 2013 and 2014 teams. Remember these guys are still learning to play together. We've also been without Crisp all year (until about 5 days ago) and losing Zobrist was a huge blow. We are going to still have a tough go of things at least until Crisp gets his swing going and Zobrist comes back.

I'm expecting we will likely struggle at least through the end of May, possibly into June. Then things will likely start to click and we will see what kind of run this team can make. Kazmir may or may not get traded, but my money is on not (especially with news of the Parker injury). He's a very good pitcher on a very affordable deal and Beane doesn't mail in seasons. This team is going to get every opportunity to turn it around. Remember, prior to 2012 no one had heard of Brandon Moss or A.J. Griffin. Both those guys played big roles in the 2012 season turn-around. Same for Josh Reddick and Evan Scribner, and no one knew Sean Doolittle could pitch.

Basically, I'm still content to wait and see how this team gels.

 

[ratenstein]

Hopefully Doolittle coming back will help the most.

Clippard & Scribner have been pretty good so far, but the pen has been very up and down for a while now... sometimes you get a good performance and sometimes, it's abad.

 

[ratenstein]

Some stat I saw on MLB.com said "The club's relief corps entered the day with a Major League-worst 5.14 ERA."

 

[Isaiah4110]

I saw that stat soon. I also saw that Griffin had a setback (Shoulder soreness?) during his rehab process and Parker's broken elbow might force him to have a third Tommy John surgery.

In good news, Doolittle is still on track to join the bullpen at the end of May.

 

[ratenstein]

Doolittle can't get back soon enough. I think I jinxed Scribner.

 

[ratenstein]

Tough luck loss for S.Gray as the A's outscore Boston in the 3 game set, but lose the series 2 games to 1.

The starters were good in the series, giving up 5 earned runs in 20 innings.

 

[ratenstein]

Man, I sound like a broken record on here.
2 more 1-run loss games in the sweep by CHI.
A's with 6 errors in the 3 game set.

 

[RaiderZar]

Rat, you're putting more effort into this thread than the Ass's are putting into their season. I applaud you.

 

[ratenstein]

Sad but true.
I wanted to see if I could at least post news and recaps of the series as the season goes on.

I've seen plenty of bad A's teams over the years, but so far this bunch is fielding like they're trying out for a Bad News Bears remake or something.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Yeah, Semien in particular has been spectacular with the bat but horrific with the glove. His range is supposed to to really good, but I think he still needs to work on throwing the ball more accurately after he gets it.

 

[navamind]

A's might as well try to coax Duchscherer and Dotel out of retirement. Can't be any worse.

 

[ratenstein]

A's need to maintain a policy of don't ask Dotel.

 

[ratenstein]

Another series in the books. A's win the opener by 1 run, but lose the series to Houston.

The middle game was notable for featuring no errors by the A's, as former A's Chris Carter homered, and Luke Gregerson coughed up a couple of runs in relief before Pat Neshek came in for the save.

Up next: Tampa

 

[ratenstein]

A's split a 4 game series with Tampa winning the last 2 games and have now played 2 straight games without an error. The win improves the road record to 11-16.

Up Next: Detroit

 

[Isaiah4110]

Winning streak is now at 3 games, and the best we have had all season. Error-less streak was broken, but Jesse Hahn handled it well and threw his first career shutout (first time past the 7th inning at level, including college) in spite of the three errors committed by the A's defense.


The team is starting to play together, pick each other up, etc. We aren't out of the woods yet, but this could be the start of the turn around we have been waiting for.

 

[ratenstein]

Yep, Hahn was the highlight of the series... although really tough luck for Chavez giving up only an unearned run in his loss, and it's great that Doolittle got some game action in the 3rd game of the set. Hopefully nothing's wrong with Kazmir.

Overall, this series was typical of the season. Could've won them all, but lose two more 1-run games.

 

[Isaiah4110]

The encouraging thing though is Hahn absolutely picked up the defense in his win and, outside of the Phegley error, the defense was great the next two games. Instead of 1 part of the team working and two failing each game (like I've felt has happened most games this season), we were down to 2 parts working and one part failing each game.

I'm still holding out hope for a turn-around this year. Graveman's start tonight is pretty crucial, as he needs to display continued good command of his pitches.

 

[ratenstein]

Nice to see a 1-run win even if Graveman gets a ND.

Hold out hope until they're dead and buried.

 

[ratenstein]

A's win 3 of 4 from NY.
There was a lot of good in this series, and J.Chavez continues to look the part with his Gm.4 win. Unfortunately Doolittle is headed back to the DL, but Clippard picked up another save in this last win.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Don't look now, but we have won 4 of our last 5 games and we are 7-3 in our last 10.

About a month ago I was saying we need to be patient with this team as they are still learning to play together. I also predicted that late May through early June would be where we start to get a better idea of what this team can do, and that success would come much like it did for the 2012 team, if it comes at all.

I have to say I'm starting to get excited with the results I'm seeing from the play on the field. Billy Burns is doing a fantastic job alleviating the loss of Crisp. Reddick and Vogt obviously look fantastic right now.

That said, I'm also telling myself I still need to be patient and wait. We won't really look like a team ready to make a run unless we can sustain this success for the next two weeks. If we can do that then the season is still a live and a hot second half could see us securing a playoff spot in the last month of the season.