Can the A’s keep it going and make playoffs?

The Oakland Athletics are a team that has come out of nowhere in the past few weeks.

The Oakland A’s weren’t a team counted to be in the playoffs this season. But, the club has made plenty of noise to put themselves in the conversation. They have been known as a rebuilding club for a couple seasons. Now, those players have developed into reliable big league contributors. Some of those names are Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, and Sean Manaea.

Also, the club has valuable veteran players such as Khris Davis, Jed Lowrie, and Stephen Piscotty. They have mashed at the plate along with the young guys. Davis has bashed 21 home runs so far this year, while Matt Olson is right behind him at 19. Jed Lowrie leads the team in batting average at .288, and he has tied a career high in homers at 16.

The club is the 10th best offense in the MLB, and are middle of the road in pitching at 16th in the league. With that said, the bats have really carried this team through this great stretch of games. Also, this team is dangerous at the dish in multiple ways because they can hurt you with doubles and long balls.

Southpaw Sean Manaea has been a nice surprise this year for the most part, as he has shown how dominant he can be against teams like the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox. He has shown his weaknesses as well, but that’s how you mature in the big leagues. This season, Manaea has tossed a 3.33 ERA in 113.2 innings.

He has great deception as his arm angle is at 3/4 when he throws a pitch. That has been an advantage for his success this season, and he is asserting himself as the anchor of the staff for the future. The other promising arm is the other southpaw A.J. Puk, who could be up in due time.

As of right now, the A’s are 9 games back of the division in the AL West. For the Wild Card spot, they are 6 games back of that. Unfortunately for them, the two teams in the WC game will either be the Mariners and Bos/NYY, whoever doesn’t win that division. With that said, unless the A’s go on a long winning streak, it doesn’t look good for them.

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This run for Oakland is intriguing, but this could be a little too late, considering all the playoff teams are mostly set in the AL already. Sorry A’s fans, but enjoy the season while it lasts, because you’ll be sitting this October out for the fourth time in a row.