With the A’s loss to the Brewers tonight the A’s have now lost 6 games out of their last 25, but they still have the third best record in the American League, and with a Rangers’ loss to the Red Sox, they are still only 1.5 games out of first place.  I know that it’s June, but it’s nice to see the A’s be successful early in the season, as this team is normally known as a second-half team.

There is no question that when your favorite team is performing well, without a bunch of high-paid, well known players, fans of opposing teams are going to call the success a “fluke”.  This all started last July, when the A’s went on to win 19 of their 24 games, setting themselves up to eventually win the AL West on the last day of the season.  Now I know we aren’t “supposed to live in the past”, so let’s focus on this season.

Do I think think this team has been a fluke since July 2012?  Yes, most of the 19 wins in their last 25 games and some of these wins have been against teams with losing records (10 out of the 19 to be exact), but isn’t that what good teams are supposed to do?  Beat teams who are, supposedly, “beatable”?  Would wins matter more if the team was winning against teams with winning records, than with teams with losing records?  Now, I know it is still early in the season, but it is encouraging for me to see the team winning games they might have not won last season at this time.

Now, what exactly is a fluke?  According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a fluke is “a stroke of luck”.  So to say the A’s are a flukey team, you would be saying the A’s are winning purely on luck.  Are the A’s getting lucky?  It’s quite possible.  They have had a relatively “easy” schedule over the past three weeks, but they aren’t winning on balls that should have been caught, but were dropped.  They aren’t winning by bad calls by umpires, or by fans interfering in plays.  To state the obvious, the A’s are pitching well and scoring runs when they need to, to win games.  I would not call that luck, I would call that, playing good baseball.

There’s been a few changes since early to mid-May, mainly, the pitching staff has really turned it around for the team, especially Jarrod Parker and Dan Straily.  In his first seven starts, Jarrod Parker allowed 28 earned runs over 34.1 innings (7.34 ERA), while walking 18 batters and striking out 25, also posting a .372 BABIP.  In his last five starts he has allowed just 9 runs over 34.1 innings, while walking 10 and striking out 26, also posting a .200 BABIP.  His .200 BABIP over his last five games does actually show he’s running into a bit of luck, but his .372 BABIP also shows he was under-preforming earlier in the season.

Dan Straily is a bit different than Jarrod Parker since his sample sizes are a bit smaller, but definitely worth the mention.  Straily was called up on April 29th after Brett Anderson landed on the DL with a ankle injury, through his first four starts he allowed 19 earned runs over 19 innings, walked 12, struck out 16 and allowed 3 home runs, which was good for a .310 BABIP.  Through his last three games he has allowed 2 runs over 19 innings, walked one and struck out 14, while posting a .222 BABIP.

The most consistent pitcher has been Bartolo Colon, who was the biggest question coming into this season.  He has pitched in 11 games for the A’s this season and over 70.1 innings has a 3.33 ERA, a 3.34 FIP and a .286 BABIP.  He has only walked 4 batters and struck out 42, good for a 5.37 SO/BB ratio.

It’s not only the pitching that is helping the team win, their offense has also been decent, around league average, and are currently 5th in the league with runs scored (281).  They have a combined .251/.336/.404 slash line this season, this comes a season after spending the entire season in the cellar in most offensive categories.

Josh Donaldson has been the MVP of the team so far this season, posting a .321/.392/.526 slash line in 245 plate appearances and has a .393 wOBA and 151 wRC+, good for a 2.6 fWAR. Jed Lowrie has also had a good season up to this point, posting a .317/.397/.447 slash line with a .371 wOBA and 137 wRC+.

I think most underrated is Coco Crisp’s return, who, since returning to the team on May 15th,  has a .328/.421/.443 slash line over 76 plate appearances.  He has walked 12 times, scored 14 times and driven in 10.  It’s amazing what can happen to a team when their lead off hitter reaches base.

I don’t think it’s always going to be this easy for the team, they will hit bumps in the road, as most teams do. But, I think it’s time for people to realize this team is not winning games because they have magical powers where special winning elves come and prevent them from losing.  This team is doing everything right, right now, just like they did in the second half of the season.  Numbers do not lie; the A’s have hitters they didn’t have in the past, they are getting quality starts out of their five starting pitchers and the bullpen is preserving leads for the most part (26-2 when leading after the 7th inning).  Add in team health and the Athletics are in a position to contend for the AL West title once again in 2013.

Hey everyone, remember me?

I wish I was returning to this blog with good news, the kind of news where the A’s are on a hot winning streak and mowing down everyone in baseball. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

If you have been sleeping under a rock, you should know that the A’s are on a four-game losing streak and have dropped eight of their last nine games. Ouch. Here’s the part where I explain that it’s only April, that the A’s are still one game over .500 and that they are a second half team anyway.

While all these things are true, it is extremely frustrating watching this team right now. I know many people are calling for [insert pitcher's name here] to be sent down and call up Dan Straily, I honestly do not think that will solve anything. The biggest concern for me right now is the A’s streaky hitting, take today for instance, they left ten base runners on and were 2-14 with runners in scoring position. I know that it’s hard to come back from a poor outing where the starting pitcher coughs up six-plus runs, but there is no reason why the team could have not won with Griffin only allowing four earned runs over seven innings. It’s easy to blame the starting pitching or the bullpen, but the team will probably not win many games if they are only collecting three hits in a game, which has happened six times already this season.

That being said, it IS still very early, there is plenty of baseball to play and I do think the team will snap out of their funk, but for now we are going to have to endure more games like today’s until the team figures it out. For now, I would like to focus more on the positive side of things because, believe it or not, there are plenty of those too.

If the All-Star game were happening tomorrow, I would guess that Coco Crisp or Jed Lowrie would be the representative for the team. Coming into today’s game Coco Crisp had a .294/.394/.588 slash line with a .418 wOBA and a 170 wRC+ which is good for a 1.2 fWAR. Jed Lowrie has also put up strong numbers this season, coming into today’s game he posted a .360/.436/.573 slash line over 101 plate appearances, with a .436 wOBA (seventh highest in the league) and 183 wRC+ (eighth highest in the league). These are still very small sample sizes from these players, but if both stay healthy, this could be an indication on how well these two players may impact the team this year.

Sean Doolittle has probably been the most consistent player coming out of the bullpen so far. He has pitched in nine games this season and over 8.2 innings, has a 1.04 ERA, 3.45 FIP and a .105 BABIP. The BABIP and FIP do indicate some luck there, but I always feel most confident when he comes in for relief. With a very small sample size of eight and two-thirds innings, he has a 9.35 K/9 and 3.12 BB/9 rate.

Bartolo Colon, surprisingly to some and not surprisingly to others, has been the ace of the pitching staff. He has pitched in four games this season and over 26 innings pitched, has posted a 2.42 ERA, 2.80 FIP and a .266 BABIP. He continues to be a strike-throwing machine, having only walked one batter this season and has a 17.00 K/BB ratio thus far. His strikeouts are still not exceptionally high, only posting a 5.88 K/9 and a 17.2% strikeout rate. Again, small sample size, but a little consistency up to this point is nice to see.

Speaking of Bartolo Colon, the A’s turn to him tomorrow to prevent a four-game series sweep. As I said, he’s been pretty consistent up to this point and, right now, he may be the very thing the A’s need to stop this losing streak. He last pitched against the Boston Red Sox where he allowed zero runs over seven innings, three hits and stuck out seven, the last time the A’s won.

It’s a new season, but the A’s still remember how to hit a walk-off!

Max Scherzer held the A’s to only five hits and two runs over six innings, while striking out eleven. Luckily for the A’s, they got to face the bullpen “early”, which wasn’t much easier for the team as they only were able to muster three hits and two runs over 5.1 innings. Thankfully, those two runs not only tied the game, but also brought the team to their ninth win of the season.

The A’s scored their first run in the third inning, Eric Sogard doubled to lead off the inning and with one out he stole third and scored on a throwing error by Max Scherzer. They scored their second run in the sixth, when Jed Lowrie led off the inning with a double and Josh Reddick followed with a single to drive him in. They tied it in the seventh when Josh Donaldson hit a one out double and Coco Crisp singled him in with two outs. Their most important run of the game was in the twelfth inning, when Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run with one out to win the game for the team.

Bartolo Colon had another effective start, again I can’t say he was stellar tonight, but he kept the A’s in the game. Colon lasted seven innings tonight, allowing eight hits, three runs, while walking none and striking out five. He threw 86 pitches tonight, 60 of which were for strikes. Just like his last game, his only mistake was allowing a three-run home run, this time to Prince Fielder, in the third inning. Sean Doolittle took over for Colon in the eighth inning and retired all three batters he faced. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth, allowed a hit and struck out one.

Ryan Cook pitched the tenth inning, he allowed one hit, but allowed nothing more. Jerry Blevins pitched the eleventh inning, allowed a single to Prince Fielder, but got Victor Martinez to ground out into a double-play and recorded the last out by getting Alex Avila to strike out. Blevins also pitched in the twelfth inning, he recorded the first two outs of the inning before allowing a triple to Ramon Santiago. Blevins was then replaced by Chris Resop who got Austin Jackson to fly out to end the inning.

Unfortunately, it was not all great for the team tonight, both Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes left the game with injuries and it is unclear when either player will return to the lineup. The team announced that Coco Crisp had strained his groin and is now listed as day-to-day. Yoenis Cespedes seemed to have injured his hand while trying to steal in the eighth, and according to the team his X-rays came out negative.  The good news is, Josh Reddick did return to the lineup tonight, he finished the night going 1-4 with an RBI, a walk and two strikeouts. If both players were to miss a significant amount of time, it could really hurt the team.

Another day, and another win for the A’s. Tonight they defeated the Angels by a final score of 11-5. It was slightly less ugly than the night before, but it still didn’t come easy for the team…well, not until the sixth inning at least.

The A’s were the first to score again tonight, this time it was on an RBI ground out by Jed Lowrie in the first inning. The Angels immediately tied up the game in the bottom of the same inning on a Josh Hamilton sacrifice fly. The A’s took the lead again in the third inning, scoring three runs off of an RBI single by John Jaso and a 2-run triple by Brandon Moss.

Tom Milone was about as sharp as Jarrod Parker was the night before, he lasted through five innings, but struggled the entire time. He needed 106 pitches to get through five and allowed at least one base runner in every inning. His cleanest was in the fourth, when he walked Chris Iannetta to lead off the inning, but got Peter Bourjos to ground into a double play and struck out Mike Trout to end the inning. The last inning he would see, was also his ugliest. He walked Alberto Callaspo to start the inning, then Albert Pujols hit a ground-rule double, putting both runners on second and third with no outs. He then struck out the next two batters he faced, but allowed a single to Howard Kendrick, which scored both Callaspo and Pujols.

Only up by one in the sixth, the A’s rallied to score five in that inning. Eric Sogard led off the inning with a single and with one out, John Jaso also singled, putting runners at first and third. Jed Lowrie walked and with the bases loaded  Yoenis Cespedes walked and Eric Sogard scored. With the bases still loaded Brandon Moss walked, scoring Jaso. With two outs Seth Smith singled, scoring Lowrie and Cespedes and Josh Donaldson followed with a single of his own, driving in Moss.

Chris Resop relieved Milone in the sixth, he allowed one hit, but no runs. Jerry Blevins pitched the seventh and got into a bit of trouble, allowing runners on first and third with only one out, but recorded the last two outs by getting Howard Kendrick to strike out and Brendon Harris to ground out. Pat Neshek replaced Belvins in the eighth inning, and he had another shaky outing, allowing two hits, one run and a walk. Evan Scribner finished the game, he allowed two singles, but no runs.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Moss had another big day for the team, going 3-4 with a home run, a triple, two walks and five RBI.
• Seth Smith also went 3-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Smith is now 7-17 on the season with four doubles, five RBI and three walks.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Tom Milone made his second start of the season, and just like last year, he seemed to struggle outside the confines of the Coliseum. He lasted just five innings and allowed seven hits, four earned runs, three walks and struck out five.
• Every player had a hit tonight, but Chris Young was the only player to not reach base at least twice going 1-6 with two strike outs.

A’s Extras:

•  The team announced earlier that Scott Sizemore has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. Andy Parrino was recalled from Sacramento and saw one at-bat today, in which he flew out to center in the ninth inning.
• Coco Crisp did not hit a home run today, but he did go 1-4 with two walks and a stolen base.

The A’s just won a game they probably shouldn’t have, defeating the Angels by a final score of 9-5. I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but this game was ugly. Not only did the starting pitcher only make it to the fourth inning, there were too many defensive mistakes, and it’s hard to believe the team actually came out on top. Don’t get me wrong, I love when the team wins, especially against the Angels, but I prefer the wins to be less painful.

The A’s were the first to get on board, with two outs in the first Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes both walked, Derek Norris followed with a single, which scored Jed Lowrie. Josh Donaldson then singled and loaded the bases for Brandon Moss, who also singled and scored both Cespedes and Norris. Nate Freiman then walked and Scott Sizemore ended the inning by hitting into a force out. They scored again in the second inning when Coco Crisp led the inning off with a home run, his fourth of the season and his fourth as in many games.

Jarrod Parker started today’s game and after his last start I think we were all hoping he would redeem himself, unfortunately that did not happen. Parker only lasted 3.1 innings today, throwing 74 pitches and only 40 for strikes. In the fourth, with one out, he loaded the bases after hitting Albert Pujols with a pitch and that would be the last batter he would face. Chris Resop replaced Parker and got Josh Hamilton to hit into an inning ending double-play. Resop returned for the fifth inning, allowed a lead off single, but retired the next three batters he faced, striking out the last two.

Pat Neshek replaced Chris Resop in the sixth and that’s really when things began to fall apart. Neshek allowed a lead off triple to Mike Trout, and what should have been a sacrifice fly to right field, turned into a dropped fly ball by Chris Young. The runner scored easily and the the batter, Brendan Harris, advanced to second on the error. Albert Pujols followed with a ground ball to short, and an error committed by Jed Lowrie allowed Harris to advance to third and Pujols was safe at first. Jerry Blevins relieved Neshek (who recorded no outs) and retired the first out of the inning, but at the cost of a sacrifice fly from Josh Hamilton. Ryan Cook then replaced Blevins and got Mark Trumbo to ground out into a force out, but Howard Kendrick followed with a triple and Trumbo scored. He then got Alberto Callaspo to strike out to end the inning.

In the very next inning, and down by one, the A’s came back. Coco Crisp led off the inning with an infield single, and two outs later, Yoenis Cespedes walked. John Jaso then took the lead back by hitting a 3-run home run to right. Josh Donaldson continued the rally with a single and Brandon Moss drove them both in with his first home run of the season. Nate Freiman then flew out to right field to end the inning, but by then the damage was done.

The rest of the game was pretty uneventful, Ryan Cook returned in the bottom of the seventh and retired all three batters in order, striking out two of the three he faced. Doolittle pitched the eighth and also retired all three batters in order. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth inning, allowed a single and a walk, but did not allow any runs.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Moss had a big day going 3-4 with a home run and four RBI. He seems to be heating up after starting off slow, he is now 7-21 on the season with five RBI and three walks.
• Yoenis Cespedes has had a slow start to the season thus far, but he had a good night tonight, going 2-3, with two walks and scoring twice.
• It’s hard not to mention Coco Crisp in this category, he went 2-3 today with another home run and a stolen base. Pretty sure I am going to be disappointed if he doesn’t hit 158 home runs this season (I KID, I KID).
• Some of you won’t be surprised, but I am going to add Chris Resop to this, and not just because I’m biased. He got the A’s out of a tough situation in the fifth, and for that I think he deserves the nod. He pitched 1.2 innings today and allowed one hit, no walks and struck out three.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jarrod Parker had another poor outing, and I am trying not to be concerned yet. He lasted just 3.1 innings, allowed nine hits, two runs, three walks and struck out one. It’s going to be a big test for Parker this weekend, as his next start is scheduled against the Detroit Tigers.
• Chris Young not only had a poor night at the plate, going 0-5 and striking out twice, he also committed the error in the sixth.
• Turns out Jed Lowrie isn’t perfect. He finished the night going 0-4 with a walk and, he too, committed an error in the sixth. It was his second of the season.

Also worth mentioning that Scott Sizemore started at second today, but had to leave the game in the second after injuring his knee. The team has confirmed it’s a sprained knee and he will be leaving the team tomorrow for an MRI.

Bad news first: Josh Reddick had to be pulled from the game in the fifth inning after slamming his arm into the wall going after a foul ball. As of right now we don’t have any idea how serious the injury is, but thankfully, if he needs to be out for an extended period of time, there is plenty of outfield depth on the team.

Anyway, the A’s beat the Astros by a final score of 9-3. The good news of the game is that, they are beating a team they should be beating. More good news for the A’s; after taking a ball off of his hand in the second inning, Brett Anderson stayed in the game and pitched a pretty decent game. The only trouble Anderson really came across was in the sixth, when he allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. He was able to get the first two outs via strikeout, but a throwing error by Jed Lowrie allowed two runs to cross the plate.  Pat Neshek relieved Anderson in the seventh and pitched one plus innings, allowing a triple and two walks while striking out two before being relieved by Jerry Blevins in the eighth. Jerry Blevins retired all three batters he faced, but allowed the runner at third to cross home on an RBI ground out. Evan Scribner pitched the ninth, also retiring all three batters he faced.

The A’s collected eleven hits today, and thanks to two doubles, three home runs and six walks, the A’s won this game easily. The biggest hit of the game was probably Chris Young’s 3-run home run in the fifth, which put the A’s up 8-0.  After seeing the first two games of the season, it’s nice to see the A’s bats come alive. The series against the Angels should be an interesting one and I am curious to see how the offense plays out this week.

Lines of the Day:

• Brett Anderson pitched six innings, allowed five hits, two unearned runs, walked two and struck out ten. This start was similar to his first start, just a couple less walks and a few more strikeouts. I don’t think we will be seeing many 10 plus strikeout games for Anderson this year, but I could be wrong.
• Jed Lowrie had another multi-hit game going 3-5 with a home run, a double and a single while driving in two runs. He now has three home runs on the season and five doubles.
• Coco Crisp also had another multi-hit day, going 2-4 with a home run, a double and a walk. He now has three home runs in his last three games and is 10-30 on the season with three walks.
• Brandon Moss quietly had a nice day going 2-3 with two walks and one RBI.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Josh Donaldson went 0-4 today with one strikeout. He is now 3-25 on the season with one walk and four strikeouts.
• Eric Sogard was also hitless today, going 0-3 with a HBP. He has struggled a bit at the plate himself this season, starting off the first week going 3-19 with with one walk and three strikeouts.

With the first week of the season over, it’s still really too early to be worried about anyone. Well, besides Josh Reddick who may have a broken arm. I am not worried about Yoenis Cespedes not hitting because it’s April 7th. I am not worried about Josh Donaldson or Eric Sogard for the same reason.

Update: Per the team, Josh Reddick’s X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day with a sprained wrist. Big sigh of relief from everyone.

With today’s 6-3 win over the Astros, the A’s are now on a four game winning streak, two games over .500 and hold sole possession of first place in the American League West. I know, I know…it’s only the first week of the season, but it always feels good to say that.

I am not going to lie, this win came as a surprise to me. Outside of a solo home run by Coco Crisp in the fourth inning, the A’s really struggled against Bud Norris. It wasn’t until the lead off home run by Jed Lowrie in the sixth, that they really got the bats going. Following the home run, Josh Reddick reached on a fielding error by Ronny Cedeno and two outs later, Brandon Moss walked. With Josh Donaldson batting, Josh Reddick stole his third base of the season and Donaldson following with a single, which scored Reddick.  Derek Norris then followed up with a single of his own, scoring Brandon Moss. The last run scored on an RBI single by Eric Sogard. That inning was really the difference maker in the game.

Today was Bartolo Colon’s first Major League start since August 18th, and while he was wasn’t stellar, he was efficient. He pitched six innings, allowed eight hits, three earned runs, walked none and struck out two. (This is the first game this season that the Astros hadn’t struck out ten times or more by the way). He threw 83 pitches, 58 were for strikes and his one mistake was allowing a 3-run home run to Jason Castro. So like I said, not fantastic, but exactly what the A’s need him to do for the team.

The bullpen did their job; Sean Doolittle pitched a clean seventh, not allowing a base runner. Ryan Cook also pitched a clean inning in the eighth, he did not allow a base runner and struck out one. Grant Balfour collected his first save of the season, retiring all three batters he faced, while striking out one.

Lines of the Day:

• Jed Lowrie had another good day for the team, going 3-5 with a home run (his first of the season) and one RBI.  He is now 10-21 on the season with four RBI and four walks.
• Coco Crisp has continued to stay hot, going 2-5 with a home run, a double and one RBI.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Josh Reddick had a 0-5 day, but did reach base in the sixth on an error. He did, however, hit into an inning ending double play in the ninth.
• Yoenis Cespedes continued to struggle at the plate today, going 0-4 and striking out three times.

Dan Straily made his season debut tonight, facing the Houston Astros for the first time in his Major League career. This was the first time the A’s have faced the Houston Astros since they joined the AL West (obviously) and they walk away with the win by a final score of 8-3. Straily pitched 6.2 innings tonight, allowed five hits, two earned runs, walked none and struck out a career high of eleven.

Pat Neshek came in the seventh to relieve Straily, but struggled to get the last batter out. He allowed two hits, a walk and a run (charged to Straily) before he was relieved by Chris Resop, who recorded the final out by getting Brett Wallace to fly out to center with the bases loaded. Evan Scribner pitched the final two innings of the game, allowing two hits, a double, one run, no walks and struck out one.

Coco Crisp lead the game off with home run, but the bats stayed pretty quiet after that until the fifth inning. The A’s scored seven runs in the fifth on four hits (two doubles), four walks, one error and one hit by pitch. The only player to not reach base in that inning was Nate Freiman. In fact, Nate Freiman was the only player to not reach base the entire night.

Lines of the Day:

• Dan Straily was probably the hero in tonight’s game, striking out eleven and only allowing those two runs. Although I hear it’s easy to strike out Astros’ hitters this season, it was still fun to watch him. Unfortunately for Straily, Bartolo Colon returns from his suspension tomorrow and will be making his first start, which means Straily will be on his way to Sacramento.
• Coco Crisp had a big night going 3-5 with two doubles, a home run, one walk and three RBI.
• Also having a good night was John Jaso, who went 2-3 with a walk and one RBI.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• There really wasn’t a lot of bad tonight, but there were a few players that stood out to me. Yoenis Cespedes looked a little lost at the plate tonight he went 0-5 with an RBI and two strikeouts. He did reach base on an error in the seventh inning.
• Nate Freiman also went 0-5 tonight, but to be fair, there were two balls he hit that could have dropped for hits, especially when Rick Ankiel made a nice play to rob him from a hit.
• Pat Neshek seemed to be all over the place tonight, I don’t really need to repeat his numbers, but he just didn’t have it.

A year ago today I did my first Fantasy Baseball post and I recommended that you draft six A’s players for your team. I actually did pretty well, I think, as 4.5 of the players I told you to draft fared pretty well last season.  What I am trying to say here, is if you want to win, you’ll listen to me. (I kid).

If you’re anything like me you probably won’t draft an A’s player in fear of jinxing them (ahem… Jemile Weeks last season), but I know many of you like to get that one (or several) homer pick. This is strictly my personal opinion, and if you listen to me and I tank your season, I’m truly sorry.

Just like last season I am going off of standard leagues and using the following stats: BA, Runs, HR, RBI and SB for offensive categories and Wins, ERA, WHIP, Saves and SO for pitching categories. This is my once a year post where I pretend like batting average is an important stat, so enjoy it while you can:

Yoenis Cespedes: Last season he was a sleeper pick, this season I feel pretty confident about telling you to draft him. He had a .292/.356/.505 slash line and had 23 HR, 82 RBI and stole 16 bases. ZiPS projects a .273/.338/.452 slash line with 23 HR and 84 RBI. I tend to agree that Cespedes will not be a .300 hitter, but I do think if healthy, he could be a 30 HR player.

• What he’s good for: HR, RBI, a few SB

Coco Crisp: I hesitate to put him on here, but for deep leagues he might be worth picking up. Last season Crisp had a .259/.325/.418 slash line with 11 HR, 68 Runs and 39 SB. ZiPS projects a .263/.325/.400 slash line with 8 HR, 63 Runs and 32 SB. He has a history of injuries, so it’s hard to really gauge how his numbers will be, but like I said, he would not be a bad bench player for deep leagues.

• What he’s good for: Runs, SB, the occasional HR

» Continue reading “A’s Baseball: Fantasy Edition II”

THE A’S ARE BACK AT .500!!  It’s still spring training and the A’s are still playing games that don’t matter, but they do have a Cactus League Championship title to defend. This win comes against their division rival, Seattle Mariners, by a final score of 7-3.

Tom Milone started today’s game and went three innings, allowed three hits, no runs, one walk and struck out three. Milone has now pitched five innings this spring and has allowed zero runs on three hits and two walks and has struck out four. Hideki Okajima relieved Milone in the fourth and over one inning of work allowed a hit, a walk, no runs and struck out one. Sonny Gray was the only pitcher to allow runs in today’s game and he went two innings, allowed four hits, three runs (two earned), walked none and struck out one. Andrew Werner also pitched two innings today and only allowed two hits.

The offense was offense-y today, scoring seven runs on eleven hits and four walks. Hiro Nakajima had his first multi-hit game going 2-3 with a stolen base and RBI. He is now 6-20 this spring with an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases. Jed Lowrie hit his first home run of spring today, he went 1-2 with a walk, scored two runs and drove in two. He is 5-16 with five RBI and four walks this spring.

• Coco Crisp started in center field this lovely afternoon and went 1-3 with a strikeout. He is 5-12 with a double this spring.
• Josh Reddick played in right field and went 1-2 with a walk and one RBI.
• Yoenis Cespedes was the team’s designated hitter today and he went 1-4 with two strikeouts.
• Brandon Moss played at first base and went 0-3. He is 5-20 this spring, with one home run, two RBI and one strikeout.
• Chris Young played in center field today and went 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
• Scott Sizemore returned to the lineup today and went 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout. He is 3-14 with two RBI, four walks and five strikeouts this spring.

The A’s are going to face the Mariners again tomorrow, except only this time they get to face the “real” team. AJ Griffin will be making his third start of the spring.