A new week means a fresh start, something the Athletics badly need after losing all three games of the season-opening series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Entering the season, the team’s pitching was considered its biggest weakness as the A’s did not do much to improve that part of its roster this offseason. It did not take long for that to come back to hurt the team. They lost their initial two games in walk-off fashion. On Friday, reliever Justin Sterner allowed the Blue Jays to score the winning
run in the bottom of the ninth immediately after A’s catcher Shea Langeliers hit his second home run of the game to tie the score in the top of that inning. The next day, Langeliers bashed a grand slam to give the A’s a four-run lead in the seventh inning. Only nine outs away from a victory, the A’s bullpen just needed to protect that sizable lead to get the team its first win of the season. Alas, that was too much for them to handle as multiple relievers let the Blue Jays come back and eventually win in 11 innings.
On the other hand, the A’s offense was seen as its biggest strength, the likes of Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom and Nick Kurtz bringing enough firepower to help the team overcome any pitching struggles. Through three games, that has not been the case.
The team is off to an extremely slow start at the plate with the exception of Langeliers. The A’s struck out an MLB record 50 times in their inaugural series. Even contact-king Jacob Wilson, who only struck out 39 times in 486 at-bats last year, has already struck out five times in 13 at-bats. Part of the credit goes to Toronto’s stellar rotation fronted by right-handers Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease. Yet, the A’s have been pressing, chasing pitches and just having bad approaches at the plate.
Hopefully, things will change now that the team is back on U.S. soil. This evening, the A’s begin a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. Like the A’s, the Braves have several talented hitters but pitching question marks due to key starters Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach beginning the season on the injured list.
Left-hander Jacob Lopez will make his first start of the season today. Lopez has a high ceiling as evidenced by how well he was pitching last summer before his injury. If he can return to that level of performance, that would alleviate some questions surrounding the A’s starting rotation.
The A’s starting lineup:
Despite the team’s putrid performance this past weekend, Kurtz remains in the leadoff spot with Wilson batting fifth. Playing in his hometown, look for Lawrence Butler to put forth a strong showing in front of family and friends. He gets the start in center field with Carlos Cortes in right as the A’s give offensively-challenged Denzel Clarke the night off.
The Braves starting pitcher is right-hander Bryce Elder, who went 8-11 with a 5.30 ERA in 28 starts last year. If the A’s offense struggles against Elder, that would further raise alarm bells.
Here’s how Atlanta lines up behind Elder:
The top of their lineup features a formidable trio of superstar right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr, reigning National League Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin and former A’s player Matt Olson. Atlanta’s catcher Jonah Heim also used to play for the Athletics before he was traded to the Texas Rangers.
