Baseball in Oakland has taken the MLB by storm. Not only is the team on pace for the worst record in the modern era of major league baseball, but an unexpectedly tragic announcement that the team plans to leave Oakland has ignited the true passion of the fanbase in the form of a historic reverse boycott. Moments like this have sparked a flash of lightning across baseball. They have brought to light the ongoing issues with the team’s ownership and pulled into question the integrity of the league.
As fans refuse to go down without a fight, the team has only seen one sign of climbing out of this historic hole. This happened in the form of a seven-game winning streak in June. With struggles on both sides of the ball and some glimmers of hopeful young talent, here is a look at where the A’s stand at around the halfway point.
Offense
While the A’s rank at the very bottom or among the bottom half in nearly every significant hitting category, the team has some individuals showing spark. All-star outfielder Brent Rooker had an early surge. For over a month, he held an OPS over 1.00, which reached as high as 1.245 and put him atop the league. While Rooker has certainly cooled off as expected, he still leads the offense on the power side of things slugging .467 with an .800 OPS and 16 homers.
The other standout bright spot to the A’s offensive equation is rookie center fielder Esteury Ruiz. Atop the American League in stolen bases, Ruiz gives the A’s something they have not seen on the base paths since Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson. With an average sprint speed of 29.8 ft/second, Ruiz explodes everywhere on the field. The 24-year-old has a range factor of 2.76 per nine innings, third among center fielders.
Issues with the offense? The A’s have struggled to have some of these promising young stars stay healthy. Ruiz is currently on the injured list, along with another rookie in first baseman Ryan Noda. Noda has demonstrated impressive discipline drawing 60 walks while posting a solid .375 on base percentage. The A’s will need these players healthy along with more of their lineup to start manufacturing runs if their offense is going to head into any positive direction.
Pitching
No different than their struggles offensively, the team has had great difficulty finding any sort of groove on the mound. They hold the highest team ERA and haver surrendered the most home runs and walks in the league. Unfortunately, non of the young hard throwers have quite lived up to some of the excitement.
Redeeming factors? 33-year-old Austin Pruitt has been reliable out of the bullpen. He currently holds an ERA+ of 103. 27-year-old JP Sears has also shown promise with a solid 4.21 strikeout/walk ratio. Veteran reliever Trevor May, whom the A’s were relying on for a bounce back year also looks to be finding his place as the team’s closer. He is a successful 3-for-3 in save opportunities in his most recent outings.
Where Does The Team Go From Here?
It is anyone’s guess as to what uniform each of the players will be wearing by the August 1 trade deadline. The rest of the league will certainly look to the A’s as sellers. It’s also anyone’s guess as to how much longer professional baseball will be played on the soil of Oakland, California.
As for A’s future prospects? The team currently has baseball’s no.21 farm system after the draft according to Bleacher Report. The A’s used their first round pick to land shortstop Jacob Wilson, the top contact hitter in the this year’s draft. They also recently called up top prospects Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof. Top prospect pitchers Mason Miller and Kyle Muller ran into injury trouble while Shintaro Fujinami did not last till the trade deadline. As far as current top prospects, power-hitting first baseman Lawrence Butler has climbed up the ladder to Triple A and could give fans a fun combination of power and speed to look forward to in years to come.
Like with any A’s prospect and the future of the team however, nothing is certain when it comes to stability.
Ben Rossi is a contributor to Back Sports Page.
