There is not a lot to say about today’s loss against the Cleveland Indians. Seriously, not a lot happened today. The team combined for six hits and one walk over nine innings and not one baserunner made it past first base. John Jaso was the only player to collect multiple hits tonight, going 2-4. The team “threatened” in the ninth inning when Yoenis Cespedes singled with one out, but that was quickly erased when he was caught stealing while Brandon Moss was batting.

Tom Milone was the one bright spot in today’s game, lasting seven innings and allowing only five hits, one unearned run, no walks and striking out five. I was impressed with Milone today, who normally struggles on the road, so maybe this a sign of things to come? Or maybe I am looking too much into one game. Either way, Milone will next face the Mariners in Seattle and hopefully by then, the team will have located their bats.

The one run that scored in tonight’s game was on an error, actually two errors, Carlos Santana reached first on a fielding error by Brandon Moss, he then advanced to second on a throwing error by Eric Sogard. He then reached third on a one-out single by Mike Aviles and crossed home on a sacrifice fly by Yan Gomes.

Josh Reddick did not play in tonight’s game due to wrist soreness, which may or may not have to do with him crashing into the wall in Houston, way back in April. It is believed that Reddick will land on the DL and no word on who will replace him if he does need to miss an extensive amount of time. Reddick has performed pretty poorly this season, posting a .152/.266/.250 slash line with a .241 wOBA and 48 wRC+ over 109 plate appearances. It’s possible this wrist injury explains his struggles, but I think we can all agree we hope to see the old Reddick return if he does, indeed, land on the disabled list.

Update: Susan Slusser reports that the A’s will place Josh Reddick on the DL and will call up Daric Barton in his place. Barton has played in 28 games for the Sacramento Rivercats this season and over 125 plate appearances has posted a .296/.432/.480 slash line with a .411 wOBA and a 142 wRC+. I may be in the minority here, but I don’t think this is a terrible move for the team to make. I assume this means Brandon Moss moves to right field, while Barton covers first. Defensively, he is good, and offensively, he could match (if not exceed) Reddick’s numbers this season.

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 won today’s game, splitting the series with the Seattle Mariners. I missed recapping the first three games, but I had a couple of quick things to say after watching the first four games of the season.

The Good:

• Jed Lowrie had a good series, starting at shortstop in all four games and going 6-13 with four doubles, a home run, three RBI and two walks. It’s a very small sample size, but it’s nice to see him hitting already.
• Yoenis Cespedes has three hits this season in sixteen at-bats, which isn’t necessarily “good”, but two of his three hits are home runs.
• Chris Resop, who did not allow a run over nine innings this spring, has made two relief appearances so far. He has pitched two innings, allowed one hit, no runs, no walks and has struck out three. Again, another small sample size, but I said in the offseason he could play a big role in the A’s bullpen and I still still stand by that statement.
• Three of the four starting pitchers had pretty decent outings in their first appearances. I was most impressed with Tom Milone (who was mostly successful at home last season), who went seven innings while only allowing four hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out four. Brett Anderson didn’t have a bad outing himself, despite taking the loss on Monday. Anderson only allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings, he struck out six, but walked four.
• Nate Freiman made his Major League debut yesterday and went 2-3 with an RBI. He also had one plate appearance today and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

The Bad:

• The first two games were hard to watch, as the team only combined for six hits, one run and four walks over eighteen innings. I guess it really doesn’t matter that much since the offense really picked up in the following two games, but it was definitely ugly.
• Jarrod Parker had a pretty poor first outing for the A’s, allowing five hits, four runs and three walks over five innings while only striking out one. It’s only one game and there is absolutely no reason to panic, but it definitely falls under the “bad” category.
• Ryan Cook’s pitching performance in game two was probably one of my least favorite parts of the series. In his first appearance of the season he allowed one hit, three walks and one earned run over two-thirds of an inning. He did, however, pitch one clean inning today and struck out the side.
• Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss have both only combined for two hits in twenty-four at-bats, they have three strike outs a piece and neither has taken a walk.

I’ve said it twice already and I will say it again, these are very small sample sizes so it’s hard for me to really get excited (or worried) about certain players yet. Overall though, I am pretty satisfied with how the season has gone so far. I would have liked to see the team do more against Hisashi Iwakuma, but splitting the series is much better than losing the series, or even worse, being swept.

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.

It wasn’t only the pitching that helped the team defeat the Colorado Rockies today, but it was what stuck out most to me today after yesterday’s loss. The final score in today’s win was 6-3.

Andrew Werner was the only pitcher in today’s game to allow any runs, he pitched the sixth and seventh inning today and allowed three earned runs on five hits and a home run. Tom Milone was today’s starter and he only allowed a walk over two innings, while striking out one. Pitching prospect, Sonny Gray, pitched two innings and allowed a hit and a walk while striking out two. Mike Ekstrom pitched a clean inning of work, allowing only a walk.

Most of the runs scored in today’s game came off of two home runs; Josh Reddick hit his first of the spring (a 3-run home run) and Brandon Moss hit his first as well (a solo in the fifth). The team scored their six runs on ten hits and five walks and went 3-9 with runners in scoring position.

• Coco Crisp returned to the lineup today and went 2-3 with a run. Michael Choice replaced Crisp in the sixth and collected another hit and RBI.
• Josh Reddick started in right field today and went 2-2 with a home run and three RBI. Michael Taylor replaced him in the sixth and he went 0-1.
• Yoenis Cespedes was the designated hitter today and he went 0-3 with two strike outs. He is now hitless in eleven at-bats this spring with four walks and two strikeouts.
• Seth Smith was in left field today and went 1-2 with a walk. He was replaced by Shane Peterson, who has had a great spring so far. Peterson collected two more hits today and is now 9-20 this spring with one home run and three RBI.
• Hiro Nakajima was the starting shortstop today and he went 0-1, was hit by pitch twice, stole his first base of the spring and scored one run.
• John Jaso was the catcher today and went 0-2 with a walk, a run and a strikeout.

The A’s will face the Colorado Rockies on Sunday and AJ Griffin will be making his second start for the team.

Tigers: 5  Athletics:  4

This loss hurts a little bit more, okay a lot more, than yesterday’s. Not only are the A’s down by two games, with the Tigers one game away from eliminating them, but this is a game that they could have (probably should have) won.

Tom Milone had a great outing for the A’s, going six innings and only allowing five hits and one run while striking out six and walking one.  The score stood at 1-1 until the seventh inning, when the A’s took the lead on an RBI single by Cliff Pennington.

Sean Doolittle came in for relief in the seventh, he recorded the first two outs of the inning before allowing back-to-back singles to Austin Jackson and Omar Infante.  He then got Miguel Cabrera to pop up to Coco Crisp, who dropped the ball and both runners scored on the error.

In the top of the eighth the A’s fought back. Yoenis Cespedes singled to lead off the inning and with one out and Josh Reddick up to bat he stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch by Joaquin Benoit. Josh Reddick then hit a home run, putting them back up 4-3.

In the bottom of the eighth Ryan Cook came in to relieve Sean Doolittle, allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the inning.  Andy Dirks hit a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners over to second and third and with that Ryan Cook recorded the first out of the inning.  Cook then struck out Quintin Berry, but with Alex Avila batting, he threw a wild pitch, allowing the runner on third to score.  Alex Avila struck out looking to end the inning.

The A’s threatened again in the ninth, but with two runners on and two outs, Yoenis Cespedes grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Grant Balfour came in to pitch the ninth.  He lead off the inning by getting Austin Jackson to strike out, but then gave up back-to-back singles to Omar Infante and Miguel Cabrera. With two on and one out Balfour intentionally walked Prince Fielder to load the bases.  Don Kelly hit a fly ball to Josh Reddick and just like that; ball game over.

You can really blame anything you want on today’s game, the dropped fly ball, the wild pitch, Grant Balfour, home field “advantage”, but the one thing that went right was the managing of the game.  Bob Melvin did what was right,  he went to the right guys at the right time, the three guys who normally would have shut down the last three innings of the game.

The A’s have an off day tomorrow before they begin the last three games of the series at home.  It’s a sweep or nothing at this point for the Green and Gold and, as we know, anything is possible with this team.

The A’s have announced that Jarrod Parker will be starting tomorrow against the Detroit Tigers for the first game of the American League Division Series. Parker finished the regular season with a 13-8 record with a 3.47 ERA. Over 181.1 innings pitched he had a 3.43 FIP, a .290 BABIP and 6.95 SO/9 rate. Parker’s biggest struggles were with his control having a 3.13 BB/9 rate, but rarely allowed home runs, having only allowed 11 over 29 games (.55 HR/9).

Jarrod Parker has faced the Tigers once this season (at home) and he allowed 6 hits and 2 runs over 5.2 innings, while striking out 5 and walking 4.

He will face the reigning Cy Young winner, Justin Verlander. Verlander finished the 2012 season with a 17-8 record and a 2.64 ERA. Over 238.1 innings he had a 2.94 FIP and .273 BABIP. Verlander struck out 239 and walked 60, good for a 3.98 SO/BB ratio.

Verlander pitched in two games against the A’s this season and allowed 7 hits and 1 run over 13 innings while striking out 13 and walking 4.

Tom Milone will take the mound for game two of the playoffs, he finished the season with a 13-10 record and a 3.74 ERA. Over 190 innings he had a 3.93 FIP and .310 BABIP. He also had 6.49 SO/9 and 1.71 BB/9 rate. His road and home splits are quite different from each other, at home Milone put up a 3.16 FIP and .273 BABIP and away he had a 4.76 FIP and .350 BABIP.

Milone has faced the Tigers twice this season and over 11.2 innings he allowed 14 hits, 5 runs (4 earned) while striking out 7 and walking 4.

He will face off against Doug Fister who had a 10-10 record with a 3.45 ERA over 26 games. Over 161.2 innings he posted a 3.42 FIP and .296 BABIP. He also finished the season with a 7.63 SO/9 and 0.84 HR/9 rate.

Fister faced the A’s once this season (in Oakland) and allowed only 5 hits and 1 run over 6 innings while striking out 8 and walking 2.

Athletics:  5  Mariners:  2

This game was very similar to yesterday’s game, just without the walk-off part.  The A’s struggled against starting pitcher Erasmo Ramirez, only collecting three hits over 6.2 innings, they did take four walks, but struck out six times.  The two runs they scored off of Ramirez came in the first inning, Stephen Drew took a one out walk and Yoenis Cespedes tripled and Drew scored from first. Yoenis Cespedes then scored off of a sacrifice fly by Brandon Moss.

In his last start of the season, Tom Milone had his troubles.  He allowed a lead off double to Franklin Gutierrez, but he was stranded after he retired the following three batters.  In the second inning he allowed three singles, but again, escaped the inning unharmed.  In the third inning he was not so lucky.  Milone allowed another lead off double to Gutierrez, Casper Wells singled and Kyle Seager singled, scoring Gutierrez. He then got Jesus Montero to ground out into a double play, but a two out single by Justin Smoak scored Wells.

Milone pitched a clean fourth, but allowed a one out triple to Casper Wells in the fifth.  He was able to strike out Kyle Seager before Pat Neshek came in to replace him. Neshek faced one batter, Jesus Montero, who he walked, before he was replaced by Jerry Blevins.  Blevins got Justin Smoak to ground out to end the inning. Tom Milone’s final totals on the day were nine hits, two runs, no walks and three strikeouts over 4.2 innings.  He threw 85 pitches and 51 were for strikes.

Jerry Blevins pitched a clean sixth inning, recording two fly outs and one ground out.  Ryan Cook pitched in the seventh inning, allowing a double and a single to lead off the inning.  Then with runners on first and third he struck out the next three batters, stranding both runners.  Sean Doolittle pitched the eighth inning and he did not allow a baserunner and also struck out one.

After six scoreless innings, the A’s bats found life in the eighth inning. Stephen Drew flew out to lead off the inning, but with one out Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo home run breaking up the tie. Brandon Moss singled and Josh Reddick followed up with a home run of his own, putting the A’s up 5-2. Grant Balfour came in to close the game, retiring all three batters he faced and recording his 22nd save of the season.

With today’s win and tonight’s Angels loss the A’s are now one win away from clinching a playoff spot. The A’s will face the Texas Rangers for the final three games of the season, giving them a chance to overtake the division with a sweep.

After a disappointing loss today and a 4-6 road trip, the A’s head home to finish up their final home stand of the season.  The A’s are still very much in the playoff race, still two games ahead of the Anaheim Angels for the second wildcard and one game behind the Baltimore Orioles.  The A’s will begin their final six of games of the season tomorrow, starting with a 3-game series against the Seattle Mariners (73-83).

Friday 7:05 PM PST: (RHP) Blake Beavan (10-10) Vs (RHP) A.J. Griffin (6-1)

• Blake Beavan is coming off of a very strong start against the Texas Rangers.  Over 7 innings he allowed 8 hits, 1 walk and stuck out 2. He faced the A’s once this season (back on April 15) and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and no walks while striking out 4.
• A.J. Griffin is looking to bounce back from two back-to-back poor starts. In his last outing against the New York Yankees he only lasted 4.1 innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 1. Over his last two starts he has allowed 4 home runs, in his previous 11 starts he allowed 5 total. Griffin faced the Mariners earlier this month and lasted  5.1 innings and allowed 6 hits, 1 run, walked 1 and struck out 7.

Saturday 1:05 PM PST: (LHP) Jason Vargas (14-11) Vs (RHP) Dan Straily (2-1)

• Jason Vargas faced the Texas Rangers in his start and allowed 8 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and struck out 3 over six innings.  When he last pitched in Oakland (July 7) he threw a complete game, allowing only 1 run on 7 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6.
• Dan Straily did well in his last start against the New York Yankees.  He allowed only 2 runs (1 earned) over 6.2 innings while only allowing 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8.  This will be his first career start against the Seattle Mariners.

Sunday 1:05 PM PST: (RHP) Erasmo Ramirez (1-3) Vs (LHP) Tom Milone (13-10)

• In his last start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Erasmo Ramirez lasted 6 innings and allowed 5 runs (3 earned), walked none and struck out 3.  He last started against the A’s in June and threw 8 innings, only allowed 3 hits and 1 run, walked 1 and struck out 10.
• Tom Milone pitched 6 innings against the Texas Rangers in his last start and only allowed 6 hits and 2 runs while walking none and striking out 3. He faced the Mariners earlier this month and allowed 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and struck out 10 over 6 innings.