Rise and shine A’s fans! We got two for one this fine Saturday afternoon with the A’s splitting up and taking on two separate squads. One half of the team will head on over to visit the Chicago Cubs for another exhibition game while the other half heads to Las Vegas to take on the Angels in an exhibition in what’ll be the team’s future home. Still not used to saying that and may never get there.
A’s vs. Cubs at Sloan Park
Starting with the Cubs, the Athletics have right-hander Mason Barnett set to get the ball for the start.
Theoretically still in contention for a season-opening rotation job, this’ll be his third start of Spring Training and we’ll likely be seeing him go a bit deeper today. His previous two outings saw him go 2 and 2 1/3 innings, respectively, though in his first outing he reached 29 pitches and in his second he reached 49. The wind up continues and we can expect to see somewhere around 50/60 pitches from one of the Athletics’ top pitching prospects. Does he still have a chance to crack the season-0pening rotation, or was it always an uphill battle for the 25-year-old?
Here’s how the A’s stack up with half their squad against those Cubbies:
Only one starter in the lineup against the Cubs with Shea Langeliers DH’ing and leading off. The rest of the lineup (outside of perhaps Andy Ibanez, who is batting second and at the hot corner) are prospects or depth pieces that have little to no shot of breaking camp with the Athletics in a couple weeks.
We do have a couple notable other names in there though! Corner infielder Brett Harris will be manning first base this afternoon as he continues to expand his positional versatility. The forgotten man in the battle at third base, Harris has had a rough camp as he’s just 2-for-14, all but ensuring he won’t be the option in Toronto come Opening Day.
We also have another Leo De Vries sighting! The 19-year-old is at shortstop and batting fifth this afternoon, which will be his 10th already this spring. He’s performed as hoped for, going 7-for-19 with only a trio of punchouts. The power hasn’t been there but the past few weeks might not have been about that for him. Still insanely young he’s already on the fast track to the big leagues but he’s going to have some time in Triple-A to finish rounding out his game before the A’s bring him up. When he’s ready, the A’s will let us all know. It shouldn’t be too much longer.
The Cubs will have right-hander Shota Imanaga on the bump for them as they continue their own ramp up for the coming campaign. Like Barnett he’s likely got a pitch limit and bottom-line stats aren’t the end-all of his camp. Still, he’s a tough arm for most of the hitters in the lineup so they’ll have to take what the 32-year-old gives them.
And here’s the Cubbies’ lineup for this afternoon’s matchup:
Way more starters than the A’s in this one as the Cubs prepare for their own Opening Day. So a big test for Barnett on the mound today. He’d love an opportunity to show he can handle a major league lineup.
A’s vs. Angels in Las Vegas
The other half of the team is in Nevada playing host to the Angels. This is the first time for many of the current crop of A’s to play in front of their new home fans so they better get comfortable here. Still not used to them being in Las Vegas. Sigh.
Lefty Gage Jump is on the mound for the A’s to start this one. One of the top prospects in the A’s system and the entire sport as a whole, the 22-year-old has looked comfortable on the mound for the squad in his two previous appearances, where he reached 22 and 29 pitches respectively. He’s not a serious threat to break camp with the squad after spending the majority of last year at Double-A but this has been a nice peak into the future for both him and fans. There’s high hopes for the lefty and the A’s need starters but let the kid develop and don’t rush him. Can’t wait for him and Jamie Arnold to form that dynamic 1-2 punch though.
Here’s the lineup for this one:
Now there’s all our guys! Sorry Shea, seems like the entire team forgot about you.
Again, Nick Kurtz is at the top of the lineup batting leadoff. Are we really going to get cute with this this year? Come on, Kotsay. Don’t over think this. Meanwhile Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, and Jeff McNeil are more or less right where they’re supposed to be.
The rest of the lineup is half starters, half Triple-A prospects/depth pieces. The outfield in particular could conceivably look like this down the line, with Tyler Soderstrom in left, Junior Perez in center, and Henry Bolte in right. That would of course mean something went wrong with Denzel Clarke and Lawrence Butler, but with Clarke’s lack of hitting and Butler’s injury it isn’t out of the realm of possibility we see this alignment on the grass down the line, perhaps as soon as this summer. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen anytime soon but at least they’re getting to know their teammates now, right?
The batters will be facing Angels righty Ryan Johnson, who has had a tough go of it this spring but is considered the Angels’ #2 prospect. The Athletics will certainly be seeing plenty of him in the coming years, so let’s introduce ourselves with a drubbing, eh?
And the Angels’ batting order for their first game in Las Vegas:
Like the A’s the top half is all starters but the bottom half won’t make the roster. Should be a decent enough lineup to challenge Jump today.
Two wins in one day? Who says it can’t be done? Let’s go A’s!
