Potential turning to power for young A’s
Sweep of Astros a sign rebuild is on course for payoff
The A’s have begged for patience with their terrible results over the past three seasons as they work on rebuilding their roster with young talent. It’s been a long process, but it all finally seems to be coming to fruition.
With Sunday’s 10-2 victory at the Coliseum, the A’s completed a four-game sweep over the Houston Astros in a series where the last place A’s racked up 51 hits and outscored the team with the best record in the American League, 41-15.
“I’m not saying it was unexpected,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “But the fashion that we did it was pretty impressive.”
A’s rookies combined to hit eight home runs with 26 RBIs over the four games. Ryon Healy is not one of those rookies, more so an old man by this club’s standards at 25, but he’s played with most of these rookies throughout the minors and has developed alongside them.
Healy, along with rookies Matt Chapman, Boog Powell, and Matt Olson, all homered in Sunday’s blowout. The second-year player feels they’re all feeding off each other as they continue to perform at a high level now in the majors.
“I’m the biggest believer in hitting is contagious,” Healy said. “When you have guys that are doing what they’re doing, starting with Olson and just kind of trickling down to everyone else, it’s definitely contagious and everyone is just trying to get a piece of it right now.”
Olson’s mammoth 417foot shot to right off Tony Sipp in the eighth was his 17th of the season and sixth in the past eight games, leaving Healy in awe of his continued success.
“I can’t even watch him. Can’t even look at him. When we’re at home or wherever we are I don’t look him in the eye anymore,” Healy said. “I’m scared of him now. What he’s able to do is fun to watch.”
The formula of building a team into a contender from the ground up through the farm system is one Astros manager A.J. Hinch knows very well. Young stars like Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, and George Springer have transformed Houston into a club many feel have a good shot of reaching the World Series this October.
Hinch believes it’s only a matter of time before players like Chapman, Franklin Barreto, and Olson turn the A’s into one of those teams that challenge the Astros for a playoff spot.
“They’re growing and they’re maturing. Their young hitters all have power and you can see them extend leads or come back from deficits,” Hinch said before the game. “There’s some excitement in their lineup and they’re dangerous. As they mature, they’ll be a tough team to match up against.”
In a duel of aces, Kendall Graveman got the better of Dallas Keuchel, allowing only a run through six innings pitched to pick up his first win since Aug. 25.
Graveman’s only real trouble came in his final inning of work. Three straight hits resulted in the Astros tying it up, but Graveman was able to bounce back by getting Marwin Gonzalez to fly out and prevent further damage.
“When you go up against Keuchel you know it’s going to be that way,” Melvin said. “They battled each other pretty hard and really the only run Kendall allowed was on a ground ball. There’s no break in a tie game against a lineup like that. It was one of his better outings for us.”
Chapman provided Graveman with a 1-0 lead in the fifth after he sent a 3-1 pitch from Keuchel over the wall to straightaway center for his 12th home run of the season. After the Astros tied it in the next half inning, Chapman put the A’s back on top again by drawing a bases-loaded walk off Keuchel.
From that point on, Keuchel completely lost his command.
Having already walked three batters in the inning, Keuchel hit Mark Canha with a pitch to bring home a run and later walked Marcus Semien with the bases loaded for another. Cruising through the first five with the exception of Chapman’s home run, the A’s made Keuchel throw 40 pitches in the sixth and chased him out of the game.
Healy added on to the lead in the sixth by crushing a two-run bomb to left, his 24th of the season.
The A’s broke it open in the eighth on the pair of two-run homers from Powell and Olson.
“Early in the season we’d get some leads and couldn’t add on,” Melvin said. “It’s a great attribute to have that killer instinct.”