I will get the bad news over with first: the A’s lost a game today. Along with everyone else in the Cactus League, the A’s were not able to beat the Kansas City Royals. The Royals scored four runs in the first inning, which turned out enough to defeat the A’s, who only score two runs over nine innings. The final score of the game was 8-2.

Bartolo Colon did not impress in his second spring outing. He allowed seven hits and five runs over only two innings. He threw forty-eight pitches, thirty-two for strikes, did not walk a batter and struck out two. In two appearances this spring he has allowed twelve hits and eight runs over four innings while walking none and striking out six. I still think it’s entirely too early to be in any sort of panic mode with these players, but he has definitely not been enjoyable to watch so far.  Right-handed pitcher, Evan Scribner, also pitched in today’s game and went one inning while allowing two hits, no runs or walks and struck out one. Travis Blackley also pitched two innings; he did not allow a hit or a walk and struck out one. James Simmons was the only other pitcher to allow runs in today’s game, he pitched one inning and allowed four hits and three runs.

The offense wasn’t really there today, as the team only combined for two runs on nine hits and two walks. Grant Green was the only true stand-out player of the game, going 2-4 with two doubles.

• Daric Barton started at first base in this game and went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Chris Young started in center field today and went 0-4. He is now 4-16 this spring with no walks and four strikeouts.
• Josh Donaldson played third and went 0-3 with a walk.
• Hiro Nakajima collected another hit today, going 1-3 with a double and strikeout. He is 4-17 with 9 strikeouts this spring.
• Michael Choice played right field and went 1-4 with a strikeout.
• Shane Peterson was in left field and went 2-4 with a strikeout.

» Continue reading “A’s Spring Training Games 11 & 11 1/2: One Loss, One Win”

Photo: Keith Allison

With today’s 13-5 win over the Los Angels Angels of Anaheim the A’s are sitting on a 5-5 record this spring. This is the first time since game two that the A’s are at .500 and they have also won three in a row for the first time in ten games. These numbers don’t really mean a lot until the real season starts, but a win is always nice even when it’s “only” spring training.

The five runs scored by the Angels today were only allowed by two pitchers; with Dan Straily allowing two and Ryan Cook allowing the other three. Straily started today’s game and went 2.1 innings while allowing four hits, two earned runs, no walks and striking out two. Over 3.2 innings this spring he has allowed six hits, four runs, one walk and struck out three. Chris Resop relieved Straily in the third and struck out both batters he faced. Sean Doolittle pitched a clean fourth inning while striking out the side. Ryan Cook allowed his three runs in one inning, allowing four hits and a walk while also striking out one. Jordan Norberto also pitched in today’s game and allowed only a hit.

The offense was what really won the game for the team today. They combined for fifteen hits, five walks, four doubles and two triples while going 9-14 with runners in scoring position. The biggest hit came from John Jaso in the fourth when he hit a bases clearing triple. He finished the game going 1-2 with a walk and three RBI.

• Adam Rosales started at second base today and went 0-2 with a walk. He is 4-11 this spring with four walks and two RBI.
• Josh Reddick started in right field today and went 1-3 with a double and an RBI.
• Yoenis Cespedes collected his first hit of the spring today and finished the day going 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
• Jed Lowrie was the starting shortstop today and went 1-3 with an RBI. He is now 4-14 with three walks and three RBI this spring.
• Josh Donaldson was the starting third baseman in today’s game and he went 0-2 with a walk. This spring he is 1-17 with four walks.
• Michael Choice stated in center today and went 0-2 with a strikeout. Shane Peterson replaced him in the sixth and he went 1-2 with a triple and an RBI.

Tomorrow is the first split-squad for the team; Bartolo Colon will face the undefeated Kansas City Royals while Brett Anderson takes on team Italy.

Yesterday I said that the A’s had an off day today and that their next scheduled day wasn’t until Sunday. It turns out that today IS Sunday so a game was played (Imagine how surprised I was when I woke up this morning and saw the lineup card posted on Twitter for today’s game). For the second day in a row the A’s defeated the Colorado Rockies, today’s final score was 7-2.

AJ Griffin started today’s game and went three innings, allowed three hits, one run (on a solo home run from Nolan Arenado), walked none and struck out one. Griffin has allowed four hits over five innings this spring, while allowing one run, no walks and striking out four.  Pat Neshek relieved Griffin in the fourth inning and pitched one clean inning, striking out one. Lefties Pedro Figueroa and Hideki Okajima both pitched an inning a piece; Figueroa allowed a hit and struck out one, while Okajima did not allow a baserunner and struck out one. The other run allowed was off of Justin Thomas, who pitched two innings today, allowed three hits and struck out one.

Most of the runs scored today did not come off of hits, the first run scored was off of a bases loaded hit by pitch in the first inning. The second run scored in the third after Daric Barton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded,  then two batters later, Adam Rosales walked with the bases loaded to score the third run of the game and Scott Sizemore followed up with a bases loaded hit by pitch to score the fourth run. That’s five batters hit by pitches in the last two innings for those counting.

• Scott Sizemore did start at second base today, but had to be pulled for precautionary reasons in the fifth because of a bruised hand due to the hit by pitch. Before he left the game he was 2-2 with an RBI. He is now 3-12 this spring with three walks and two RBI. Grant Green replaced Scott Sizemore and went 2-2 with a run scored.
• Chris Young started in center field today and went 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts.
• Josh Donaldson was the starting third baseman for the team today and he went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Michael Choice started in right field today (he replaced Chris Young in center in the sixth) he went 1-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a HBP.
• Hiro Nakajima started at shortstop today and went 1-3 with a run scored and a strikeout. He is now 3-14 this spring with eight strikeouts.
• Daric Barton started at first base today and went 0-1 with a HBP and walk.
• Addison Russell was the designated hitter today and he went 1-5 with an RBI and a strikeout. In four games this spring Russell is 4-11 with two RBI and one walk.

The A’s WILL play a game tomorrow against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Dan Straily will be making his second start for team.

We are now finishing up the first week of spring training and the A’s finish the week with a 2-5 record. Today’s loss came against the San Francisco Giants and the final score was 13-9. The good news is real baseball begins a month from today and that there is plenty of games for the A’s to play before then.

A lot of runs were allowed today, but ten of the thirteen were allowed by only two pitchers. Jerry Blevins pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed four hits, three runs (only two allowed) and struck out one. The error that caused the unearned run to score was committed by Jemile Weeks. Travis Blackley was hit the hardest today, allowing five hits (two singles, one double, one triple and a home run), seven earned runs and two walks over a third of an inning.

Despite the thirteen runs allowed, the pitching wasn’t all bad today. Jarrod Parker started today’s game and pitched two innings in his spring debut. Parker allowed one hit, no runs and struck out two while walking none. Ryan Cook also made his spring debut and pitched an inning while only allowing a walk. Sean Doolittle also pitched for the first time this spring and only allowed a hit over an inning of work.

The offense was not a problem today, as the team combined for nine runs on fourteen hits and four walks, while going 6-21 with runners in scoring position. Here are some of the lines from the team’s hitters today:

• Jemile Weeks started at second today and went 1-3 with an RBI. He is now 6-11 this spring with five RBI.
• Chris Young returned to the lineup today and started in center field. He went 2-3 with a strikeout.
• Jed Lowrie started at shortstop today and went 0-2 with a walk and run.
• Derek Norris started behind the plate and went 1-1 before he was replaced by John Jaso. Jaso finished the day going 0-2.
• Seth Smith started in right field today and went 1-2 with a triple, a walk and a run.
• Daric Barton was at first again today and went 1-2 with a RBI.
• Michael Choice continues to hit this spring, going 2-2 with an RBI. He is now 9-16 this spring with six RBI.

Tomorrow the A’s will face the Colorado Rockies and Tom Milone will be making his spring debut for the A’s.

There really isn’t a lot to say about today’s game. I don’t think the A’s necessarily played terrible today, but they didn’t play well enough (to state the obvious). The A’s lost to the Chicago Cubs today to a final score of 5-3, dropping their spring record to 2-4.

Brett Anderson started today’s game and went two innings, allowed one hit, no runs, walked none and struck out one. Bartolo Colon relieved Anderson in the third inning and was the one pitcher who was hit the hardest today, having allowed five hits and three runs (only one earned) while walking none and striking out four. The two unearned runs were caused by an error by shortstop Hiro Nakajima.

As far as the offense goes, the team combined for nine hits, three walks and went 1-7 with runners in scoring position. Derek Norris hit his second home run of the spring (and second in two days) and Michael Choice hit his second double. Here’s some more stats from today:

• Both Hideki Okajima and Jordan Norberto pitched in today’s game. Okajima pitched one inning, allowed one hit, no runs, walked one and struck out two. Norberto pitched one inning as well, allowed two hits (a single and a double), one earned run, walked none and struck out three.
• Fellow lefty, Pedro Figueroa, also pitched one inning today, allowed two hits, one run and walked one.
• Hiro Nakajima started at shortstop today and went 1-3 with one strike out. Nakajima is 2-10 this spring with six strikeouts and one walk.
• Josh Reddick started in right field today and went 0-2 with a walk.
• Josh Donaldson started at third base today and went 0-3 with a strike out. Donaldson is 1-10 this spring with no walks and four strikeouts.
• Michael Choice continued his hot streak this spring, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI. He is now 7-14 with two doubles, one home run and five RBI.

In other A’s news, Bob Melvin announced that Brett Anderson was named the Opening Day starter earlier today. Anderson returned from Tommy John surgery last August and went 4-2 over six starts. In 35 innings he had a 2.57 ERA, 2.72 FIP, .272 BABIP and a 1 fWAR. There was really no question, as far as I am concerned, that he would get the Opening Day nod, so it’s no big surprise. The rest of the rotation will be; Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin and Dan Straily until Bartolo Colon returns from his suspension.

Tomorrow the A’s face the San Francisco Giants, Jarrod Parker will be the starter and will be making his spring debut. Along with Parker, Jerry Blevins, Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle will also be pitching for the first time this spring.

(Photo: Dinur/Flickr)

I really can’t take credit for that title, it was a text I received from a friend about today’s game and it seemed really fitting to me. Anyway, the A’s faced the Arizona Diamondbacks today and lost, with a final score of 9-4.

My initial reaction is to blame the pitching for this loss; after all, they did allow nine earned runs on fourteen hits, three home runs and three walks, but the offense was pretty ugly until the ninth inning. The A’s scored their first and only run, until the ninth inning, on a solo home run by Derek Norris in the third.  Previous to the ninth, they only combined for six hits and one walk and went 0-5 with runners in scoring position. Even after the ninth inning the team was still only 2-9 with runners in scoring position.

The three runs scored in the ninth came off of a lead off walk from Adam Rosales who moved over to second after David Freitas hit a one-out single. Both players moved over on a pick-off attempt turned error and Rosales scored when Jefry Marte doubled him in. Top prospect, Addison Russell, hit a single which scored Freitas and the final run scored on an RBI ground out from Andy Parrino.

As I said in the first three games, it is way too early to be in panic mode for this team. I feel just as optimistic as I did entering spring training, despite the three loses and gazillion runs the team has allowed. It could very well be a different story for me three weeks from now, but for now, I am sticking by my “it’s only spring training” stance.

Now here’s some stats from today from some baseball players:

• It wasn’t all bad today, especially for pitcher A.J. Griffin, who made his spring debut. Griffin pitched two innings and allowed only one hit, no runs and struck out three.
• Mike Ekstrom pitched 1.2 innings today and allowed three hits, two runs and struck out four (which was kind of neat).
• Bullpen candidate, Fernando Rodriguez, pitched one inning and allowed four hits and three runs, including a two-run home run to former Athletic, Cliff Pennington.
• Hiro Nakajima collected his first hit as an A today, he started at short and went 1-3 with two strikeouts.
• Brandon Moss started at first today and went 0-3 with one strikeout.
• Josh Donaldson was the starting designated hitter for the team today and he also went 0-3 and had two strikeouts.
• Michael Choice, who was 5-7 this spring, started in center field today and ended the day going 0-3.

Tomorrow the A’s will face off against the San Diego Padres and pitcher Dan Straily will be making his spring debut. Here’s the lineup for tomorrow’s game.

You’ll have to forgive me, I am an hour behind from almost everyone else. I decided today that I would give up social media for the day and watch the game on TV (which was obviously an hour behind real life), so I am just now processing what I watched. The A’s beat the Angels with a final score of 7-5, securing their first Cactus League win of the season.

The offense came from multiple players today, combining as a team for 11 hits, 7 doubles and going 5-11 with runners in scoring position today. The umpires also helped with the win by calling a 2-run home run from Bill Hall a double, so a shout out to them too! Here’s some numbers from players that you should care about:

• Travis Blackley started today he went one inning, allowed three hits and struck out one.
• Daric Barton made his spring debut today starting at first and had a good day going 2-2 with a walk.
• Jed Lowrie also made his debut today at shortstop, he went 0-2 with a walk and committed his first error.
• Yoenis Cespedes also started his first game of spring, he also went 0-2 with a walk.
• Chris Young started in right field today and went 1-1 before he had to leave the game with a quad cramp. There is no word whether or not he will miss any time, but according to every single A’s beat writer he was just taking out for precautionary reasons. Michael Taylor replaced Young and went 0-4 with two strikeouts.
• Top prospect, Addison Russell, came in as the designated hitter in the sixth and he went 1-2 with a double. Prospect Michael Choice replaced Yoenis Cespedes in the 4th and he went 2-2 with a double and RBI.
• Pat Neshek was credited with the win today and he threw one inning, allowed one hit, one walk and no runs.

The A’s play their first home game of the spring tomorrow and will be facing off against the Cleveland Indians. Andrew Werner will be making his spring debut for the A’s and you can see the starting lineup here.

(Photo: Bay_to_Taki/Photozou)

Coming into the 2012 season the A’s had one of the strongest farm systems in baseball.  With the season more than halfway over I thought it would be the perfect chance to check in with some of the A’s top prospects, starting with Michael Choice and Sonny Gray, who are both number one draft picks for Oakland.

Outfielder Michael Choice was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2010 draft with the 10th overall pick.  Entering the season John Sickels ranked him as Oakland’s number 2 overall top prospect, Kevin Goldstein ranked him as their number 1 top prospect and Baseball America ranked him as their 5th top prospect.

After fracturing his hand 2 weeks ago Michael Choice was shut down for the remainder of the season.  Before his injury he played in 118 games for Double-A Midland and over 402 plate appearances he had a .287/.356/.423 slash line with a .350 wOBA and a wRC+ of 117. He also had 10 HR, 58 RBI and 5 SB.

This was his first season in Double-A and although his average and on base were close to what they were last season, his power had decreased significantly.  Not only has his slugging dropped more than .100 points, his ISO dropped from .257 to .136 this season.  His walk percentage had dropped down slightly from 11% to 8%, but so did his strikeout percentage going from 25% to 22%.

While Choice will be missing almost most of the entire second half of the season, I expect he will be promoted to Triple-A Sacramento at some point during the 2013 season.  I don’t think there is any reason to be concerned over his dip in numbers, especially since he had .367/.420/.578 slash line over his last 23 games.

Pitcher Sonny Gray was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2011 draft with the 18th overall pick.  John Sickels and Kevin Goldstein both ranked him as the A’s 5th top prospect and Baseball America ranked him as their 3rd overall top prospect.

Sonny Gray has started in 21 games in Double-A Midland and has a 5-1 record with a 4.37 ERA.  Over 115.1 innings he has a .310 BABIP and a 3.67 FIP.  He also has a 5.77 SO/9 and 3.75 BB/9 rate with an impressive 0.31 HR/9 rate.

His numbers on the season are just okay, but since he has returned from the All-Star break his numbers have been a little bit better, allowing 17 runs over 48 innings while walking 18 and striking out 30.

When the A’s first drafted Sonny Gray many scouts thought he would be better in the bullpen rather than in a starting role, but the A’s seem set at keeping him in the starting spot for now.  His biggest concern right now seems to be control, having walked 48 batters over 115 innings.

Athletics:  7  Blue Jays:  2

The A’s begin their 6-game road trip with a win.  They have now won 6 straight, making it this their longest winning streak this season.

The A’s scored first when Derek Norris launched a 2-run home run in the second, it was his 3rd home run of the season.  The A’s bats were pretty silent until the 7th inning, when they scored 5 runs with 2 outs.  The rally began with Jemile Weeks hitting a triple that scored Brandon Hicks from second.  Coco Crisp then doubled in Weeks and put the A’s up 4-1.  Next Jonny Gomes and Josh Reddick would both walk and Yoenis Cespedes added 3 more runs when he cleared the bases with a single.

Lines of the Day:

• Travis Blackey: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 SO.  The one run Blackley allowed was a lead off home run by Travis Snider in the 3rd.  It took him only 97 pitches to get through 7 innings and he struck out a season high of 8.
• Jemile Weeks:  4 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI.  Weeks was moved down to the 9th spot today and it paid off.  He was the only player in today’s lineup to collect 2 hits, one of which was a triple.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Chris Carter:  3 AB, 0 H, 1 BB.  Chris Carter was the only player in the A’s lineup to not record a hit tonight, but he did reach base in the 4th when he walked.

A’s Extras:

• Evan Scribner and Jim Miller each threw an inning of relief tonight, Scribner allowed a hit and struck out two while Miller allowed 2 hits, including a solo home run and struck out 1.
• A’s top prospect, Michael Choice, has been shut down for the season due to a broken hand.  He had .287/.356/.423 slash line in Double-A Midland over 91 games with 10 HR.

Sonny Gray was one of the 10 non-roster invitees sent to minor league camp (photo: Karl Fisher/Flickr)

Following today’s win to the Royals, the A’s announced they have made 12 roster moves:

• Sean Doolittle (LHP) and Jermaine Mitchell (OF) have both been optioned down to Triple-A Sacramento.
• 10 non-roster invitees have been moved to minor league camp: RHPs Edgar Gonzalez,Sonny Gray,Jim Miller,Merkin Valdez, LHP Fabio Castro, C Max Stassi and OFs Michael Choice, Grant Green, Cedric Hunter, Jason Pridie.

Really no surprises with this list.  The A’s are now down to 46 players at camp (8 non-rosters and 38 from the 40-man).

Remember the A’s do not need to set their 25-man roster until opening day at home (April 6th).