How do Athletics best prepare for playoffs?
The A’s are a win or Houston Astros loss away from clinching the American League West with seven games to go against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners.
We know, at least, that the A’s are going to the postseason, currently holding a 33-20 record. Here’s a few questions they face as their third straight playoff appearance looms.
Rhythm vs. rest
It’s fair to ask if the A’s might find it best to keep key players out of harm’s way. Should Matt Olson take a breather? He’s started every game. Should Stephen Piscotty protect his ailing wrist?
“We have a few guys that are banged up,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Then you have to make sure your bullpen is prepared for the postseason. You still want to win as many games as you can to potentially try to get maybe a better matchup. Even though in the American League, I don’t see an easy matchup.
“Obviously you want to play at home and you want to get everybody ready for it. But it’s easier said than done because you also want to create a winning atmosphere going in. So there’s always a balance.”
Interrupting any semblance of rhythm at the plate could have dire impact on a three-game wildcard series. But expect at least a few players to take a breather.
Can they survive without Chapman?
The A’s should send the Arizona Diamondbacks a thank you card for leaving Jake Lamb up for grabs. After losing their Platinum Glove third baseman in Matt Chapman, the A’s managed to slide in a motivated replacement in Lamb.
What the Dodgers series can tell us
In the upcoming series against the Dodgers, we learn a lot about how the A’s match up against elite pitching. The A’s are most likely to face Dodgers phenom Dustin May in Tuesday’s opener in Los Angeles. May has a 2.68 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 10 games (nine starts) this year. He’s not infallible; he gives up some hard contact. And despite an arsenal of wicked pitches, his strikeout rate isn’t particularly high. But how the A’s fare against one of baseball’s best arms could tell us a lot about how they can adjust to strong pitching.
They’ve faced a relative fair share of baseball’s strongest pitchers this season and struggled for the most part. In three games against Lance Lynn, the A’s managed four runs total with 25 strikeouts. San Diego’s Zach Davies tossed seven shutout innings against them. They got one run off Arizona’s Zac Gallen, striking out eight times.
The A’s offense feasts on mistakes to turn out wins, often relying on weak bullpens late in games.
With plenty of baseball’s best on the horizon, Oakland would be wise to demonstrate it can handle strong pitching in big situations. The A’s need to make in-game adjustments that might open scoring avenues against tough pitches in particular.
Who may start Game 1 of a wild-card series?
The A’s will face the same conundrum they’ve faced for their past two wildcard berths: Who will be the game’s starting pitcher? At least they’ll have a threegame series this time. They also have a much richer talent pool with which to work, so choosing a Game 1 starter isn’t as do or die a decision for the A’s.
Jesús Luzardo and Chris Bassitt seem the clear frontrunners to get nods for the first two games. Despite starting a few steps behind other starters in camp, Bassitt emerged out of the gate as Oakland’s most consistent arm. He’s allowed one run over his past three starts, going at least six innings in each.
Luzardo was slower to find a feel for his stuff in his first few starts. But the lefthander has the most electric pitches of the entire rotation and is learning the big league grind fast.
The A’s have six viable starters with those two, Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Mike Fiers and Mike Minor. One of the rotations’ biggest issues has been an inability to eat innings on a consistent basis. For the most part, this stems from issues facing the same opposing hitters a third time through lineups.
Who will they want to face in first round?
As a potential third seed, A’s are lined up to play the sixth-seeded Houston Astros in the wild-card series, which may be the most opportunistic matchup. Melvin has said he’s not sure he’d rather face a familiar foe or new team.
The A’s fared well against the Astros. Without Justin Verlander, the Astros’ pitching hasn’t been as typically fearsome as in the recent past. The bullpen is green, too.
This matchup seems ideal. Move one seed up and they’re in a nightmare matchup against the Cleveland Indians.
Cleveland has a murderer’s row of elite righthanded starters in Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Carlos Carrasco and young Triston McKenzie. The A’s are 9-2 in games against left-handed starters, 24-18 against right-handers, though the hitting splits are about even — .228 against righties and .223 against lefties.