The Oakland A’s season is upon us! Baseball is back! Before we take a look forward at the season, let’s take a quick look back.
The A’s finished the Cactus League with a 15-13-5 record. After losing Jarrod Parker to Tommy John surgery and AJ Griffin within the first couple of weeks of Spring Training, the team managed to remain relatively healthy the rest of the way, sans the lingering minor issues with RP Ryan Cook and OF Craig Gentry. Both Cook and Gentry should return to action sooner rather than later.
With the opening pitch of 2014 fast approaching, here is what the A’s Opening Day lineup and rotation looks like – starters largely listed first for position players, and the starting pitching rotation to kick off the season.
C: Derek Norris, John Jaso
1B: Brandon Moss, Daric Barton
2B: Eric Sogard, Alberto Callaspo
3B: Josh Donaldson, Nick Punto
SS: Jed Lowrie
OF: Yoenis Cespedes, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, Sam Fuld
SP: Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jesse Chavez, Dan Straily, Tommy Milone
RP: Jim Johnson, Sean Doolittle, Dan Otero, Luke Gregerson, Fernando Abad, Evan Scribner, Drew Pomeranz
When looking over that roster, one struggles to find a glaring weakness. When Cook and Gentry are healthy, you’ll probably see Fuld and Pomeranz head down to the minors. The one omission you may have noticed is that the A’s front office decided to start the season with Stephen Vogt in the minors despite a very strong Spring Training – finishing with a .364 BA, 3 HR’s and 12 RBI’s. If the A’s accumulate any further injuries, you can expect Vogt to join the roster quickly.
Predictions
After back to back division titles, the Athletics are looking at another solid season with the nucleus still intact. Can they get over the hump and/or finally beat Justin Verlander in October? The loss of Jarrod Parker has some people nervous. Nonetheless, the A’s have more than enough talent to win the AL West for the third consecutive season. However, without Parker, it might be a tough year to advance through the playoffs.
The rationale behind picking the A’s is relatively simple:
- Billy Beane has replaced all of the major departures with solid players, most notably Jim Johnson replacing Grant Balfour and Scott Kazmir replacing Bartolo Colon
- The rest of the division doesn’t really scream “watch-out!” – the Astros are still awful, the Mariners spent a ton of money to float around .500, and the Angels are a waste of ~$155 million. The Rangers are likely the strongest opposition.
Final record prediction for the A’s – 93-69, AL West Division Champs … the offense is going to have to carry them further in the playoffs. We’ll see how this goes!
As an added bonus to this season preview, we’ve asked Jen Rainwater a few questions to get her thoughts on the forthcoming season, and she graciously accepted. If you follow the A’s, you may know her as “Oakland A’s Socks Girl”. You can find more from Jen on her blog or follow her on Twitter. Here was our email discussion:
John:
Who are you most excited about this season - new player or someone that might turn things around this season?
Jen:
I am most excited to see what Sonny Gray can do in a full season. He played less than half a season in 2013 but did play 60 innings and was among the top pitchers who pitched at least 60 innings. He has some really nasty stuff and he goes after batters but his stuff is so good they can barely make contact. His point of release is the same on 6 different pitches (he says 5 pitches but he doesn't differentiate between his 12/6 curve and his slider - they are slightly different) so the hitters don't know what is coming until it has left his hand then they have a millisecond to decide whether to swing or not. He is so well rounded. He amasses strikeouts like crazy, gives up very few walks and is mostly a groundball pitcher.
My personal "bold prediction" is that he will make a run at the AL Cy Young award. The kid is awesome! I think it's terrible that we lost Parker but I would have put Gray as my number one starter to begin with. Also, if you look at the way he handled facing off with Verlander twice in a five game series, it's a testament to his maturity and composure under pressure. In game 2 of the ALDS he matched Verlander with 8 shutout innings and 11 strikeouts each! In game 5 he had no offensive support but only gave up three runs against Prince, Miggy and company. I think the 24-year old righty has a chance to make history as well as lead the team, as long as he stays healthy.
John:
Who are you most concerned about on the roster, given the results through Spring Training?
Jen:
The player I am most concerned about would (and many would disagree) be Yoenis Cespedes. After the huge impact he made winning the HR derby, home runs have been short in supply. He hit 26 last year but Brandon Moss hit 30 and Yoenis should be, in theory, much more productive in the power department than Moss. Plus he has not had a great spring. He says it is because he has shortened his swing and is still getting the timing right, but the time to have it right is now. I will say though he is great defensively in left field. He was in the running for a Gold Glove last year. He just recently hit his first home run of the spring so may he is getting his timing down. However the A's will struggle offensively more if he doesn't produce the power numbers he is capable of.
John:
What do the A's need to do this season to make and advance in the playoffs?
Jen:
The A's need offense pure and simple to move onto the playoffs. Some of our best and most consistent hitters have terrible numbers in the postseason. Third baseman Josh Donaldson was probably the A's most consistent hitter in 2013, batting .301 in the regular season and .143 in the postseason with eight strikeouts and only three hits. Brandon Moss was only 2-18 in the 2013 ALDS with just one home run, which was his one RBI, and 13 strikeouts. Also hitting with runners in scoring position is always one of the A's shortcomings.
For example in game three of the ALDS in 2013 the bases were loaded on Scherzer with nobody out the A's failed to score. Josh Reddick swung on what would have been a low ball four to end the inning. So yeah, the A's need to score with runners on in order to advance in the playoffs past the ALDS.
The Week Ahead
Moving forward, look for a weekly preview of the week ahead for the A’s here on VAVEL. We’ll be going into detail on who is hot, who is not and key in on big pitching match-ups and any other newsworthy items on the horizon.
The A’s open up the 2014 season with a seven game home-stand, opening up the season against the Cleveland Indians for three games (Monday – Wednesday) and then a four game series against the Mariners (Thursday – Sunday). Sonny Gray gets the call for the season opener and we’ll see Gray again on Saturday, likely against King Felix while the Mariners are in town.
Assuming the weather holds up, as well as the Coliseum’s plumbing, A’s could get off to a hot start and take at least 5 of these first 7.
Thanks again to Jen for her thoughts on the forthcoming season!