With ballpark dimensions of 403 feet to center field, 325 feet to right, and 330 to left in the heat of Sacramento, baseballs will fly in Sutter Health Park. Unfortunately for the Athletics, their offensive power can’t keep up with the amount of home runs allowed by the pitching staff. The A’s offense has hit 23 home runs since May 14th, while the pitching staff has allowed 50 home runs, 17 more than any other team.
In that time, the A’s have gone 2-20. Their pitching stats rank near the bottom in many categories, but one area where they are the worst in the league is home runs allowed. The A’s have had a 2.36 HR/9 since May 14th, while the second-highest HR/9 is 1.54 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. It isn’t just a Sutter Health Park problem either, as on the road, the A’s HR/9 is higher than it is at home. This young A’s team simply can’t keep the ball in the yard.
Jeffers takes his job as DH very seriously! pic.twitter.com/b654M9JvZe
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 5, 2025
Athletics Giving Up Too May Homers in Losing Skid
One potential cause for the Athletics’ home run problem is most of their pitchers struggle to keep the ball on the ground. Since May 14th, of the 14 pitchers to throw at least five innings for the team, only three have a GB/FB ratio above 1.0, and no one who’s thrown 10 innings has one above 1.0. The reason allowing fly balls can be detrimental for a pitching staff is that MLB batters have a .226 wOBA and 40 wRC+ on ground balls compared to a 120 wRC+.
This issue is most apparent in the starting rotation. JP Sears and Jacob Lopez both have a 4.2 HR/9, with Sears having 0.49 GB/FB and Lopez having a 0.19 GB/FB, during the A’s skid. Jeffrey Springs has had a 0.89 GB/FB and a 2.1 HR/9, and Gunnar Hoglund has had 0.91 GB/FB and a 3.9 HR/9.
With how many pitches are being hit in the air, balls are going to find themselves leaving the yard, but what makes matters worse, is A’s pitchers aren’t getting weak contact either. As a team, A’s pitchers have the highest Barrel% at 13.6%, are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the highest Average Exit Velocity at 90.8, and second highest HardHit% at 44.0%, since May 14th. Hard contact and fly balls are a recipe for disaster for pitchers.
Need More Grounders
The sinker is one pitch option to induce ground balls, and can still produce good results for a pitcher even when often hit hard. Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is a clear example of this, as despite routinely having a high HardHit%, he’s still a top-of-the-rotation arm because he has a career 3.21 GB/FB.
Since May 14th, A’s pitchers have combined to throw a sinker 11.1% of the time, which ranks 23rd in MLB. Of the sinkers thrown by A’s pitchers in that time, they have 95 Stuff+ on them, tied for second worst. Severino has an effective sinker, with a 4 run value, and he is the only starter on the staff to not allow a home run since May 14th. Outside of him, no other A’s pitcher has a sinker with a positive run value. For the starting rotation, Hoglund and Sears have a sinker, but Hoglund has a 9.1 Barrel/PA% on it and Sears only throws it 2.1% of the time.
The situations where Athletics pitchers are allowing home runs also aren’t doing the team any favors. Since May 14th, the A’s also have the highest HR/9 with runners in scoring position at 2.2, with the second highest being 1.6. It gets even worse in higher-pressure situations, as the A’s have a 3.0 HR/9 with runners in scoring position. In high-leverage situations, the A’s have a 2.3 HR/9, and in medium leverage, have a 2.7 HR/9.
In this time span, the A’s have faced the most batters and have the second highest BB%, so their pitchers are very often pitching with runners on base. If the A’s want to end their 2-20 skid, they need to keep the ball in the yard.
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