Off to the Windy City
The A’s had the day off yesterday as they prepared to embark on a two-city road trip to the Midwest. They’re scheduled to begin a 3-game series with the Chicago White Sox this evening as baseball celebrates its annual Jackie Robinson Day. What better way to celebrate than watching two rebuilding teams get at each other?
The White Sox sit at 4-11, in the cellar of the AL Central and with the worst record in the American League. That’s about where most people expected them after they went a dismal 41-121 last season en route to one of the worst seasons any team has ever had. They didn’t make any effort this offseason to even look like they were going to try to compete, and the results are what you’d expect. The offense has been atrocious and a big reason why they’ve struggled, scoring the second-least runs in all of baseball (ahead of only the Colorado Rockies). Their best hitter this season was outfielder Andrew Benintendi, but he is now on the injured list with a strained adductor muscle and will definitely miss this series. Even their star center fielder Luis Robert Jr. has struggled out of the gate, hitting just .163 with one home run. They currently have several regulars hitting above the Mendoza line, though with Benintendi and catcher Korey Lee set to miss this series due to injuries the White Sox will only have three players hitting above .200 (Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, and Matt Thaiss). Chicago as a team has hit just 10 long balls on the season. The A’s pitching staff won’t get much of an easier assignment than this all year.
Meanwhile the A’s offense has been one of the better lineups in the league so far in the early going, though they’ve slowed down a bit in recent days. They currently rank third in the American League in home runs but have fallen to seventh in total runs scored and sixth in both batting average and on-base percentage. And that’s with hit-machine Jacob Wilson in the lineup. The young shortstop saw his 15-game hitting streak reach its end in the series finale against the Mets, striking out to end the game and snap the streak. Several of the Athletics’ big hitters have been struggling recently, most notably DH Brent Rooker. While the former All-Star has four long balls on the season he’s also limped to a .188/.233/.406 slash line overall while drawing significantly less walks. Starting catcher Shea Langeliers has just three hits in his last 19 plate appearances while Tyler Soderstrom has finally cooled off from his torrid start to the year. Luckily for the A’s JJ Bleday has helped pick up the slack recently after a tough start to his year and even third baseman Gio Urshela is starting to swing the bat better. If the A’s can get all these guys going at the same time they’ll really be cooking with gas.
The A’s, who enter the series sitting at 6-10, will start the series off with left-hander Jeffrey Springs taking the ball for the first game. The offseason addition will be making his fourth start of the season as he looks to lower his 4.20 ERA. Springs looked much better last time out after getting shelled by the other Chicago team last week, pitching six full innings in a big win over the Padres. More notable is that he surpassed 100 pitches in his last start, a noteworthy first for the lefty as he continues to put his injury history further in his past. Chicago will counter Springs with young right-hander Sean Burke, who is in his first full year as a major leaguer. Burke impressed for the White Sox last year in three starts for his first taste of the big leagues but he’s had a harder time of it this season. After a shutout performance to begin the season he’s allowed nine runs in just 7 1⁄3 innings since so hopefully the A’s can jump on a young pitcher who is struggling to adjust to major league hitting right now.
Game Two will see a matchup between right-handers Osvaldo Bido and Jonathan Cannon. Bido has been the most consistent member of the starting rotation for the A’s so far, going at least five innings in each of his starts and allowing no more than two runs. He’s coming off a tough-luck loss against the Padres and will be looking to earn his third win of the year in what is his first full season of major league action. Cannon meanwhile was with the big league team for most of last season as he made 21 starts for the South Siders. Like Burke he got off to a strong start to the season before getting shelled hard in his previous two outings. The A’s will be hoping to make that three straight bad appearances for the sophomore righty.
And finally, wrapping up the series for the A’s on Thursday morning will be JP Sears. The third-year lefty has a 4.24 ERA on the year but has pitched much better than that number indicates. The 29-year old pitched into the seventh in both of his first starts to begin the year. His last time out on the mound wasn’t the most efficient as he was already over 100 pitches after just four innings, but he still only allowed three runs while striking out seven Mets and walking none. Sears will be opposed by right-hander Davis Martin for Chicago. Martin has lived the extremes of a pitcher this year. His first and third starts were dominant performances but they were also sandwiched around a 7-run meltdown against the Tigers. Which Martin will the A’s be seeing in the finale?
This is a series the A’s really need to win and a sweep would be even better. The White Sox are in disarray on the field while the A’s are hopefully beginning to emerge from their own rebuild. This series will offer a good benchmark on where the team is at right now at this point of the season. Hopefully it’s on the upswing!