Giants offense fails once again in 5-1 loss to Chicago.
Sloppy A’s have been haunted by 46 errors in 46 games, wild pitches
OAKLAND — An American League East scout summed up the A’s defense this week in two words.
Asked to describe Oakland’s fielding prowess, he made a face like someone facing a root canal, then just said, “Oh, man.”
The A’s are outdoing themselves defensively this season, although the word might be “undoing.” With catcher Josh Phegley’s throwing error in the fourth inning Wednesday, Oakland had made 44 errors in 46 games.
Matt Joyce’s dropped fly ball in the eighth made it 45. And Trevor Plouffe’s off-target throw in the ninth made it 46. That exactly one error per game. And yes, that’s about as ugly as it sounds.
That not only is 10 more errors than any team in the majors, but it also doesn’t account for the considerable number of plays not being made, the 26 wild pitches (third in the majors) and the number of times oppos-
ing teams take extra bases on a set of weak outfield arms.
So when A’s general manager David Forst says “defense is a challenge for us” he is understating the situation.
“We have some guys who are maybe playing out of position,” Forst said. “We have some guys who should be better than what they’ve shown so far this year. If you look at this team as a whole, the defense is certainly the part that stands out in needing to improve the most.”
On a 21-25 team that is struggling to be competitive as it heads to New York for a weekend series against the Yankees, the pitchers could lay claim to a lack of defensive support — except the pitchers have been among the worst culprits. Oakland pitchers have accounted for nine errors, matching their total for all of last season with almost three-quarters of the schedule yet to play.
And then there are the wild pitches. The only run the A’s allowed Wednesday was on a wild pitch. It was the second time this season an Oakland pitcher had thrown a wild pitch to let a runner score, but 12 other wild pitches have helped set up runs.
The catchers, primarily Stephen Vogt and Phegley, haven’t been good at throwing out basestealers — only 13 of 54 have been stopped. Vogt’s throwing problems surely have been a problem, but so too has the inability of A’s pitchers to hold runners close.
“When you look at Vogt and the numbers, you think maybe he’s trying to rush things,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Yeah, it’s an issue.”
Melvin’s big league career was built around playing defense, so it’s no small matter to him to be in charge of Team Pratfall.
“What to change?” he asked rhetorically. “Every day we have early work on defense. Every day.”
The A’s have lost some good defenders in the last year, including right fielder Josh Reddick and second baseman/shortstop Eric Sogard. They also lost third base coach Ron Washington, who had a special knack at getting the best out of the infielders.
The players Oakland has imported have been players who have offensive capabilities. In part because of that, the team’s defense has taken a hit. It hasn’t helped that shortstop Marcus Semien, who went from error-prone in 2015 to steady in 2016, has missed most of the season because of a fractured right wrist.
Melvin has made moves to shake things up by putting Mark Canha in center from time to time to rest Rajai Davis, but Canha isn’t a natural center fielder. Chad Pinder is a second baseman by trade, but he got a start Wednesday in left field with Khris Davis moved to DH.
There is a quick fix. Oakland has two above-average defenders at Triple-A Nashville — scouts say way above average — in third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Matt Olson. Shortstop Franklin Barreto is seen as good, not great, but some scouts think he could be better as a second baseman.
There will be no quick fix. Forst isn’t there yet.
“We know that defense is part of the equation,” he said. “We’ve pitched well. We’ve hit homers. We haven’t done everything, and defense is part of that. Olson and Chapman are guys we see as particularly above average. But Olson is at a position where we have a really good defender (Yonder Alonso) already.”
Does the need for defense impact the decisions that lead to going to the minor leagues for help?
“It’s only a very small part of the equation,” Forst said. “The overall development and the offensive ability to tread water (after arriving in the big leagues) is more than, or just as, important.”
So for the moment, the A’s wait and do all that pregame work.