For weeks now the Oakland Athletics have gradually taken center stage, coming in just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in MLB’s power rankings. After ravaging an already frustrated San Francisco Giants team over the weekend, A’s fans could not be happier with their team’s hot start to a shortened season, where hot starts are crucial.
While big name hitters Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha and Ramon Laureano have all played alternating roles in the A’s success, one less talked about name that has been a part of the success is outfielder Robbie Grossman.
Though Grossman has not been an everyday bat like the aforementioned names, he has been one of the biggest contributors, leading the team in On Base Percentage (OBP) and in Slugging (SLG). His OBP is also tied for second in the American League.
Obviously stats like this can always be misleading when comparing him to other members of the team. This is because he has fewer at-bats. However, he meets the 3.1 plate appearances/per game to qualify for the leaderboards.
Grossman’s offensive and defensive upside have both presented themselves as team values. He was an underrated part of an A’s defensive powerhouse last season as he was one of three AL players with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage as an outfielder. He finished as a runner-up in Gold Glove voting.
While his fielding stats might not be as impactful as last year with his impressive 14 total zone fielding runs above average (Rtot), he has been one of the hidden offensive gems for the A’s this season. Currently he leads the team with an offensive wins above replacement (oWAR) of 1.0. Once his bat gets going or he gets on base, the rest of the team usually follows. On Friday the A’s were down 6-0 to the Giants in the 7th. Grossman started the A’s late scoring spree with an RBI triple to put the A’s on the board, followed by him scoring the second run for the team. Grossman then reached on a fielder’s choice in the top of the ninth when he hit a bizarre routine grounder that ended up resulting in both runners being safe due to the Giants fielding woes. His ability to put pressure on the Giants defense with his contact would set up for the unprecedented game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the ninth by Stephen Piscotty.
In Sunday’s 15-3 blowout over the Giants, Grossman got on base three times, allowing for the A’s big bats to break the game open. On Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Grossman again got a group of struggling A’s bats going in the seventh, this time with the long ball. The A’s again managed to rally and tie the game late but this time fell short on a Diamondbacks walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.
With Ramon Laureano out serving his suspension for the last four games, Grossman stepped up in his everyday role in the lineup. While Grossman’s expected role with the team is that of a platoon left fielder put in to do damage to right handed pitchers, has his production earned him an everyday roster spot with the team?
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