Oakland’s young talent may surprise some people this season, but the A’s are still a few seasons away from championship hunting.
The Athletics rotation was expected to be talented and stuffed full of promise, but that was before top prospect AJ Puk and projected starter Jharel Cotton were lost for the season to Tommy John surgery. Add in Paul Blackburn, who will start the season on the disabled list, and the A’s are now back to where they were a year ago, in terms of starting pitching. They do still have Kendall Graverman and Sean Manea, who both had strong springs, but beyond that the rest of the rotation is underwhelming.
However, their bullpen might be one of the strongest parts of their team, as they’ve quietly added some impressive pieces starting with closer Blake Treinen. The tall 29-year-old righty came over from Washington in the Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle deal last year and was incredible once taking over the closer in Oakland. Saving 13 games with a fantastic 2.13 ERA in 35 appearances, Treinen will start the season as the closer for a group that includes newcomers Yusmeiro Petit, lefty Ryan Buchter, and Emilio Pagan. With Chris Hatcher and Liam Hendriks in the setup role, the Athletics bullpen might be the best in this division.
But of course, what everyone will likely be talking about is the power that is found in this A’s lineup. Slugging veteran Khris Davis along with the mashing corner infield duo of Matt Olson and Matt Chapman could hit 120+ home runs combined. Add in top positional prospect Franklin Barreto, who has 20 home run power, the A’s are loaded with talent, it’s just when it will arrive. Stephen Piscotty is a great addition to the Athletics, who will slide into right field and should help balance the roster some.
Best Case Scenario
The Athletics powerful lineup has a ton of potential, as well as a solid mix of veterans like Davis, Jed Lowrie, Marcus Semien, and Jonathan Lucroy to help guide the way. It’s easy to see these A’s having a similar 2014 Royals like season, especially with their run potential, they should be able to stay in a lot of games.
Their rotation isn’t as strong as many might thought it could be this year, but they have the pieces to make something happen at the deadline if they really want to (they shouldn’t though). But if they were truly an ace away from competing this year, GM Billy Beane won’t be afraid to pull the trigger on a deal if he believes his club is ready.
And they have a bullpen that is built to shorten games, which compliments their rotation perfectly. Petit can shrink starts for some of the younger starters and then a combination of Hendriks, Hatcher, and Treinn will shut the door. If this team’s young bats stay healthy and continue to progress, the Athletics should be able to hang with elite offenses, despite their shortcomings in the rotation. A Wild Card birth could be in play if that holds true.
Worst Case Scenario
The much more likely scenario for the A’s is that their offense continues to build, but they play more like young players learning than young players thriving. Chapman and Olson have so much power, but are both heavy strikeout guys, going down on strikes in close to 30% of their at-bats. The other issue I could see for the A’s offensively is that none of their hitters gone on base consistently enough the score a ton of runs.
Even if Oakland is crushing a ton of homers, if batters are only driving themselves in, it’s going to seriously limit their scoring chances. Adding Lucroy helps in this regard but after the veteran catcher, everyone else is ok but almost zero elite on-base guys.
Their starting pitching is going to cost the A’s some games, there’s no way around that. And while the bullpen looks solid, there’s just no way manager Bob Melvin can rely on this relievers to come into games early consistently. If that is the case, things could get ugly in Oakland.
Team MVP
Matt Olson – 1B
The kid played in 59 games last year and showed powerful hitting the league hasn’t seen since Barry Bonds was still playing, registering a .357 ISO rating last season. Ending the year with 24 home runs, OPS of 1.003, with a 162 wRC+ Olson looks like the real deal and a future home run kings in Oakland. All thanks to a slight adjustment to his swing, the relative unknown prospect in Olson was pulling fastballs out of the park once in every 7.88 at-bats. Let’s see what he can do in a full season with the A’s.
Predictions
The Athletics are a fun team that will eventually turn into a powerhouse team, but for now, they’re the budding club that’s just waiting for this most recent group of prospects to bloom. However, it is not in 2018 A’s fans. Still though, try and catch more A’s games people, you won’t be disappointed.