Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!
Today is the last off day of the A’s 2025 season before they wrap up their first campaign since leaving Oakland for their temporary home at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.
The Pirates took a lot of wind out of the A’s sails over the weekend, but hopefully the opportunity to spoil the Astros’ playoff hopes in this week’s three game series has Nick Kurtz and company fired up and ready to swat some bombs.
The Mariners and Astros were tied for the AL West lead heading into their series on Friday; the M’s swept it to open up a three game lead and leave the Stros tied with the Guardians for the third Wild Card berth. Some of you may dislike both teams equally, but for my part I would be happy to see the Mariners benefit at Houston’s expense. The A’s have a chance not only to help ensure the Astros don’t win the division, but to knock them out of the postseason altogether, as well.
Excepting a few occasions like the Pirates series, the A’s have mostly looked like a playoff caliber team since the All-Star break, and could very well be playing into October were it not for a horrid 1-20 slump that began in May. Setting that stretch aside, the A’s are 72-63 on the season. It’s easy to dwell on what could have been, but more productive to look ahead at what could be in 2026. The A’s already have a solid lineup with loads of power, and the abundance of talent coming through the minor league pipeline portends further improvements. So the hope-o-meter should be at about a five-year high as far as next season is concerned.
The Astros series will be followed by one last three game set against the Royals, with a season finale on Sunday. Kansas City is also out of playoff contention, so the final series will be one between two teams simply looking to end things on a high note.
Presumably, all of the A’s currently established starters will get their final starts this week. Jeffrey Springs is scheduled to start tomorrow’s series opener, so he may also get honors to start Sunday’s finale—or perhaps the A’s would prefer Mitch Spence or Osvaldo Bido to have another go; Springs was scratched for Spence yesterday, after all. It seems that all of the A’s starters—including Luis Severino, Luis Morales, J.T. Ginn, and Mason Barnett—have flashed enough strength and weakness such that how they finish their seasons this week will weigh heavily on their outlooks.
Have a terrific week, AN.
A’s Coverage:
- A’s futility continues against Bucs 11-0
- Athletics fall to Pirates 2-0
- Starting Pitching Conundrum: It’s Really Expensive
- Butler leads A’s offense in 4-3 series opener win vs. Pittsburgh
- Gelof (dislocated left shoulder) to miss rest of ’25
- Latest Athletics injuries and transactions
MLB News & Interest:
- MLB playoff watch: Astros bumped by Mariners, plus bracket and clinching scenarios ($)
- LGBTQ+ references from Liam Hendriks’ Clemente award bio ($)
- Mike Trout hits 400th home run, a 485-foot shot at Coors Field ($)
- Brewers Considering Relief Role For Jacob Misiorowski
- Tigers Designate Charlie Morton For Assignment
- Sunday Notes: Cade Horton Is an Emerging Ace With an Old-School Approach
- Pirates GM Ben Cherington Discusses Future, Offseason Plans
- Will Smith Suffering From Hairline Fracture In Hand
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
De Vries doing his best to force a teenage MLB debut.
One word? Wacktabulous.
Ballers win the Pioneer League.
