Bay Bridge Series pits 2 of the best teams in baseball
Matt Olson leads the A’s, while Steven Duggar exemplifies the Giants’ depth.
The best baseball player in the Bay Area recalled his early bigleague days as a backup, trying to impress his manager and front office while getting inconsistent playing time at first base and right field.
“It takes a special person to do that. I wasn’t the best at it when I was coming in off the bench,” said A’s first baseman Matt Olson, who’s enjoying a career season, hitting .302 and ranking fifth in the majors with 20 home runs.
“I really think that it’s one of the hardest things to do in the game, be able to stay locked in for four, five, six innings, and when you’re called on in a big situation, come in and put together a good atbat.”
Olson is expected at first base Friday night at Oracle Park, where the A’s and Giants, who have led their respective divisions for much of the season, will meet for the first time in 2021.
Beyond pitting two of the premier teams in the majors, the threegame series will mark the first time a Bay Area club will permit fullcapacity crowds since the start of the pandemic and offers the first chance this year for either fan base to claim bragging rights.
While both teams have received solid contributions from their rotations and lineups and could use bullpen additions
“He’s definitely a good centerfield, topofthelineup guy.”
before the July 30 trade deadline, a common theme is the depth on both sides of the bay, a major reason for each team’s firsthalf success.
The Giants, under baseball boss and former A’s exec Farhan Zaidi and secondyear manager Gabe Kapler, have joined the A’s as an analyticsdriven team and sometimes are more like the A’s than the A’s in terms of platooning and mixing and matching.
“We definitely do have that, and it seems they have the roster that has the same kind of thing,” Olson said, referring to the Giants. “Good bench players are kind of driven from an analytic side. If organizations want to play matchups all year, you’ve got to have viable options to come in and play those matchups.
“It is important, especially with the amount we mix guys in and out and, say, bring in somebody midgame to face a lefty, and it takes a special person to do that. We have a lot of guys who do that.”
Both teams do. The Giants’ depth has been a gamechanging development. After four straight losing seasons, all the interchangeable parts have come together, giving the Giants the majors’ best record at 4826.
The Giants use so many players that only Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski have enough plate appearances to qualify among the league leaders. But the contributions come from throughout the roster.
A primary example is Steven Duggar, one of Olson’s offseason workout partners in Atlanta.
“He’s finally getting a little
Matt Olson, A’s first baseman, on Giants outfielder Steven Duggar
chance over there and having a great year,” said Olson, who like Duggar is 27. “You watch him hit, you know he’s incredibly talented. Then turn on the TV and watch him play the outfield. He really is one of those fivetool guys who can do it all.
“I feel he hasn’t necessarily gotten love for his power, but he’s got some juice. He’s definitely a good centerfield, topofthelineup guy.”
Duggar didn’t make the Opening Day roster and played just three games in April but is experiencing a breakout year, hitting .325 with six homers and a .962 OPS while posting the team’s second highest WAR behind Crawford among position players.
Starting the season at the alternative site and becoming the No. 1 center fielder is how it works in San Francisco. With few positions set in stone, it’s a freeforall with playing time, and the man with the hot hand usually gets to play more.
“I can go down the line. It’s been that theme the whole year,” Duggar said of the Giants’ penchant for trusting the entire roster.
That the Giants lead the majors in home runs yet list nobody among the top 12 is a sign of a deep team. Eighteen Giants have hit homers, and 10 have hit at least six. Four have reached double digits, led by Crawford’s 16.
The A’s don’t do as much platooning as they had in recent years because they’ve got everyday players at most positions, but their outfield depth has been tested with injuries to center fielder Ramon Laureano and right fielder Stephen Piscotty.
Laureano’s 21⁄2week absence allowed Tony Kemp to further showcase his talents (playing left field when not filling in for Jed Lowrie at second base), and Mark Canha seamlessly slid over to center.
A former utility man who has played himself into an everyday role, Canha is second on the team behind Olson in WAR. But Canha exited Thursday’s game with a hip injury and will have an MRI exam Friday, a development that could further test Oakland’s depth.
The OlsonDuggar relationship is relevant not just because they train together but because of the lefty swingers’ careerbest first halves and the significant impact on their teams.
“Just being able to observe Oly from a distance and work out with him in the offseason, he’s an incredible player, a Gold Glover and has been swatting plenty of homers over there for Oakland,” Duggar said.
While few would dare to emulate the 6foot5 Olson’s unique armsextended batting stance, Duggar said he has tried to learn from Olson’s tempo at the plate. Like Olson, Duggar hit under .200 last year, which makes his 2021 numbers further stand out.
“It started in the offseason,” Duggar said, “just trying to work to get back to being myself.”
Olson took a similar approach, saying, “I wanted to come in with a better mindset and be more of a feel, rhythm hitter and get back to playing baseball.”
It’s a far cry from Olson’s early days in the majors when he was a backup, at least until the A’s traded Yonder Alonso in August 2017 and Olson became the starting first baseman.
It has taken longer for Duggar, but he’s the man in center for now as the Bay Area teams, with ample depth on display, collide for the first of two regularseason series. The other is Aug. 2022 at the Coliseum.
Olson on the Giants: “It’s obviously a good team. You can’t fake that record. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Duggar on the A’s: “We’re aware of what they’re doing. They’ve been a good club the past few years. It should make for an exciting series at Oracle.”