Elephant Rumblings: Which pitchers should we be worried about?

MLB News Roundup

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What is the story about?

Pitchers and catchers reported yesterday and I’m already wondering whose turn it is to let us down. Not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, I’m just suspicious. Every A’s pitching stuff unfolds like an Agatha Christie novel to me. They stuff these large casts of characters in the bullpen, near the end of the dugout, and by the middle of the season….something’s dead, and we the fans are left pointing fingers, wondering why and how this could’ve happened (despite us all knowing it was inevitable to begin

with).

Aside from he who shall not be named (Jose Leclerc), last year’s biggest culprits were none other than the now-banished Mitch Spence and Osvaldo Bido. When the two put up solid numbers during their rookie campaigns in ‘24, a lot of us were feeling a little cavalier. Like of course, the A’s snag two guys from the clutches of obscurity and turn them into success stories. What a classic move by a traditionally savvy ball club.

But you see, as Mitch Spence’s pants got tighter in ‘25, so did the leash Mark Kotsay had initially given him. May’s infamy can partially be attributed to the ten earned runs he gave up in just seventeen innings. For reference, it would take the A’s six games into that month’s eleven game losing streak to score more than that amount.

Bido, on the other hand, teased us to begin the season. His five-inning route of the Seattle Mariners in the opening series had me grooving a little bit, believing he was the real deal Holyfield. Don’t forget there was lot of buzz around Bido at the time. Many saw him as a breakout candidate. He had even been chosen by Luis Severino, the “ace” himself, to be the team’s proverbial diamond in the rough.

All this noise, however, would quickly die down after his first start of the season as, like Evander Holyfield, opponents began to chew him up and spit him out.

I’ll never forget the second-hand embarrassment I experienced last May 15th, as I watched from the cheap seats of Dodger stadium, Osvaldo Bido get tossed around like a Kardashian. What’s crazy is that less than a year prior, he was putting up six frames with six strikeouts against the Dodgers. Now he couldn’t even get out of the second. Six earned runs in less than two innings later, Bido had booked himself a ticket to AAA Las Vegas. He’d spend the rest of the season, like Spence, going back and forth between Vegas and the big leagues, until the front office eventually deemed him totally incompetent.

So who’s next? Someone in our rotation, in our bullpen, that we’ve got an odd amount of faith in, will be guilty of dropping the ball. If we’re able to get to the bottom of it now, we could save ourselves some trouble down the road.

Any ideas?

I hate even saying it, but Jacob Lopez’s trajectory seems a little iffy to me. Yes, he was my favorite pitcher to watch last season aside from Luis Morales, but there’s just something a little too mercurial about the guy. No part of me truly believes he can replicate last year’s rate in which he struck out batters. Not to mention the injury history dating back to his days with the Devil Rays. So while I could totally see the guy becoming the next great unassuming lefty, I’d also believe you if you told me he ended up just being really good at golf. Both are dignified in their own right, but I’d obviously prefer the first scenario.

(I just remembered Max Schuemann represented the A’s in the inaugural MLB Open last November)

Michael Kelly’s also someone I’m keeping a close eye on. The gambling icon made his season debut against the Twins last June, and immediately became a much needed lynchpin. The way he helped hold things down when Sterner would forget how to shot-put, when Hogan Harris’ curveball was nothing but a hanging hoagie — I strongly believe we don’t recover the way we did if Kelly wasn’t there. But this is a new season, and there is one thing we still haven’t seen from Kelly — his ability to perform across a full slate. A quick peak at his numbers, will you show a 33 year old, who was at his best last year in low leverage situations, and at his worst when called upon in back to back days.

Does this make him a performative workhorse?

In theory, bringing in guys like Barlow and Leiter Jr. should help take a load off Kelly’s shoulders, but should we even be putting the weight of expectation on him to begin with? I’m not too sure. Just keep him away from the sportsbook so we can find out.

Who has you sweating?

A’s Coverage

MLB News and Interest:

Best of X:

Yikes! I haven’t seen that many 4’s since the last time I visited UC Davis

Was I the only one who liked Stickman Nick Kurtz in the lead-off spot?

Soderstrom better burn his draft card. We didn’t just throw the guy a Christmas miracle for him to risk it representing our country.

Not A’s-related but this is just too funny to me haha why didn’t anyone tell Getz he couldn’t even hit right handed?

This season will determine if Gelof is the Daric Barton of this current A’s squad (does that make Jeff Mcneil our Brandon Moss?)

The equivalent of I-Hop buying an old Denny’s and painting over it

This was tweeted after Barlow told Kurtz he knows what champagne tastes like

Never been a fan of an A’s lid where “gold” was the dominant color. Just flip it and give us a cool little kelly green cactus variant of the normal A’s cap. I’d pick one up right now if it were offered.