Pitching key to A’s chance of making the postseason
OAKLAND >> The unofficial second half of the baseball season starts Friday, and the A’s, sitting with a 50-41 record, are primed for a run at the postseason.
They’ll take on the Chicago White Sox at home just 1 1/2 games back of the Cleveland Indians for the second AL wild-card spot and 7 1/2 games back of the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.
It all feels familiar — the A’s needed to win 97 games for the second wild card in 2018.
All the A’s do is hit, it
seems, but how can the pitching staff keep up for the second half? Here’s a quick breakdown of how the staff’s maintained composure amid an injury-riddled year and what in-house additions are on the horizon.
STATE OF THE ROTATION >> News of Frankie Montas’ 80-game suspension tore through the A’s season like a tornado: quick and shocking, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
Montas was the de facto ace before Major League Baseball dinged him for using the banned performance-enhancing substance Ostarine on June 22. The spotlight on Montas was widening in the early part of this season as he compiled a 9-2 record with a 2.70 ERA and 97 strikeouts over 90 innings.
The rotation — after a turbulent start — had its anchor retracted. And yet, as the first half came to a close, tame waters remained. The rest of the starting rotation held its own.
Brett Anderson has drawn up five wins over his past seven starts with a 3.86 ERA (a sevenrun, three-inning clunker inflated that ERA).
Mike Fiers has been the most consistent presence in the rotation since Montas’ exit. The right-hander has a nine-start streak of lasting at least six innings, collecting a solid 2.73 ERA over that span.
Outside of this, the rotation has been a potpourri — a chaotically good blend of innings eaters stringing together starts to keep a potent A’s offense almost always within striking distance.
Daniel Mengden is trying to find consistency to the tune of a 4.24 ERA over three starts since his most recent call-up June 26, and Chris Bassitt — despite a clunker before the AllStar break — strung together a handful of quality starts. Tanner Anderson has one win — his last outing against Minnesota — but has managed to keep his opponents to three earned runs or less in four of his five starts.
However patchwork it seems, the rotation is one of the best in baseball. It’s allowed two runs or fewer in 17 of the past 24 games. It ranks third in the American League in opponents’ slugging percentage and fourth in opponents’ average (.240) and ERA (3.14). Its 4.35 runs allowed per game ranks fourth in the AL.
The eye test also tells that the rotation, as it stands, is benefiting tremendously from a topfive defense littered with Gold Glovers. A rotation that tends to pitch to contact doesn’t have to sweat too much with a reliable wall behind it.
Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Matt Olson and Ramon Laureano headline an A’s defense with a 16 defensive WAR.
But this path isn’t necessarily sustainable. There are still gaps to fill on this front if the A’s want to close in on the wild card. And options are rehabbing in house.
Sean Manaea and, perhaps, Jesus Luzardo have potential to not only fill, but also boost, the A’s going forward. Manaea made a rehab start for the Stockton Ports on Monday, allowing four earned runs over 2 1/3 innings. Luzardo was sidelined from his rehab assignments for four to five weeks with a lat strain, which could have him out of the big leagues until August.
If the A’s go all-in on the buyers’ market as the trade deadline approaches, it’s likely Billy Beane, David Forst and Co. will be scouring the starting pitching market to solidify this front.
But it’s hard not to simply look down on the farm for significant rotational reinforcements.
STATE OF THE BULLPEN >> The Lou Trivino/Blake Treinen onetwo punch of 2018 has softened to a mere slap this year. Injuries and mechanical issues made the late-inning juggernaut a nonfactor in this first half.
Treinen needs to regain his velocity following recovery from a shoulder strain, and Trivino is just starting to regain form after fixing issues with his delivery. But the emergence of lastminute All-Star Liam Hendriks made late innings a brick wall for A’s opponents.
Hendriks is in the midst of a 16 2/3-innings scoreless streak (save for the All-Star Game blip) with a 0.60 ERA, 1-0 record and 22 strikeouts in 14 appearances in June that won him the AL Reliever of the Month award.
Yusmeiro Petit has been particularly stellar, taking the mound in any inning with every kind of stress against him. Petit is still working the low-90s fastball around the plate with a healthy curveball for key outs.
Look for the bullpen to improve with Treinen and Trivino returning to form.
Jharel Cotton — who started his rehab assignment in Stockton this week — should also be a second-half addition to the bullpen. A.J. Puk has struggled to keep runners off base in his rehab starts, but he could be a late addition to the bullpen, too. (Cotton and Puk are expected to come out of the bullpen when they return to the majors because of postTommy John surgery innings restrictions.)
The bullpen is an area the A’s front office could attempt to bolster with one or two additions at the deadline.
With the offense running like a power-hitting machine up and down the lineup, the A’s postseason eligibility may come down to how much better the pitching staff can be against top teams.
The trade deadline buzz will be loud, but arms regaining strength in nearby Stockton and Las Vegas could add an extra layer of pennant race buzz.