July 5th, 2022
Amazing A's Defy Odds
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The A's have scored 438 runs, more than any other team in baseball. They boast a rotation with two 10-game winners at the halfway point of the season. They have a comfortable 6.5 game lead on the defending American League champion Angels. Their 54-29 mark is the best in baseball.
Just like they drew it up.
Nobody, except for the A's, expected this sort of first half. When they dealt Stephen Strasburg, Dylan Bundy, and Taijuan Walker in separate trades, people figured the A's pitching rotation would be depleted. Instead, their starting pitchers rank third in AL in ERA (3.69) and have found a devastating 1-2 punch in Juan Riverva (10-5, 2.52 ERA) and Ken Taylor (10-3, 3.40 ERA). When Bryce Harper started the season on the DL, it was assumed the punchless A's offense would struggle to score runs. But third base coach Mike Gallego has been busier than an air traffic controller, calling for a league-leading 108 stolen bases, and waving in runners left and right.
"We've found a formula, and it seems to be working so far," A's manager Bob Melvin says in what must be the understatement of the year.
Sancho Fajardo is putting together an MVP caliber season, batting a MLB-best .356 through 82 games, while piecing together a 37-game hitting streak from last season into this year. New addition Josh Sterling rebounded from a .254, 2 homerun April and hit a blistering .338 with 9 homers and 24 RBI during the month of June. Mario Cantu, who is due for a big payday in free agency at the end of the season, has converted all 17 of his save opportunities while posting a microscopic 0.78 ERA.
But the A's have not been without their struggles. Manny Colon has committed 13 errors while making the switch from second base to shortstop, and has hit just .261 from the leadoff spot. Dedgar Jimenez has continued to disappoint as the team's fifth starter, with a bloated 5.18 ERA masked by a surprising 7-2 record. San Jose's overall defensive efficiency of .704 ranks 4th in the American League, but was expected to be even better given the team's commitment to fielding.
"We have our warts," says General Manager Billy Beane. "But no more than anyone else out there."
While the A's focus on the second half of the season, Beane faces a conundrum. Does he add one more piece to put the team over the top? He had reportedly pursued Chicago centerfielder Albert Almora until the Cubs locked him up to an extension before he could hit free agency this winter. Or does Beane look to move Harper's mammoth salary so he can start negotiating extensions for up-and-comers Michael Pryor and Chauncey Jordan? It's an interesting dilemma as the A's find themselves not in a rebuilding year, but a possible playoff year. It's a pleasant surprise that perhaps only Billy Beane saw coming.