The Athletics have hit a rough patch at the worst possible time, and now they’re trying to salvage something from a White Sox series that opened with a 14-1 loss. After dropping seven straight, including sweeps at the hands of the Marlins and Tigers, the A’s are staring at two more games where they need a reset in the worst way.
The biggest issue has been the pitching. The staff has been getting knocked around for weeks, and even Gage Jump, the club’s young ace, hasn’t been able to find much consistency. That has left the bullpen to absorb a heavy workload, and in Friday’s loss the Athletics had to turn to four relievers just to get through the game.
That makes the next two outings tricky. With limited bullpen options, the A’s need Jump and Ginn to go deep if they’re going to give themselves a chance. If both can get through at least 6.0 innings, the Athletics would be in much better shape heading into the back half of the series.
Offense is another problem. Zack Gelof is on the IL, and Nick Kurtz is trending toward it too, so the lineup needs its best bats to carry more of the load. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and Jacob Wilson have been the Athletics’ most productive hitters over the last two series, but even their contributions haven’t been enough to create much run support.
One possible tweak is to keep them close together in the order. That doesn’t guarantee anything, but it does raise the odds of one setting up the other, which is about as much as the A’s can ask for right now.
The bullpen remains a nightly storyline, and Friday’s game fit the pattern of a unit that keeps taking steps backward after brief signs of life. Still, Jacob Lopez stood out as the opener, covering 1.2 innings without allowing a baserunner.
Lopez probably won’t be needed Saturday, but Sunday could be a different story if the series is still hanging in the balance. For Saturday, Luis Medina looks like the likeliest bullpen arm to watch, and if he gets the ball, the Athletics need more than a one-inning cameo. He hasn’t allowed a run in July, and if the A’s are going to steady themselves, they’ll need that kind of work to stretch beyond a single frame.
In Other News...
Shea Langeliers Just Reached Rare Air In A's History
Shea Langeliers has become one of the more important success stories to come out of the Matt Olson trade, the kind of player Oakland hoped it was getting when it brought him over from Atlanta. Since arriving, he has settled in as the Athletics starting catcher and kept taking steps forward, turning promise into production while becoming a fixture in the middle of the lineup.
Now he has added a rare place in franchise history to the rsum. Langeliers is one of only nine As players since 1968 to put together at least four straight 20-homer seasons, and he is the only one to do it as a full-time catcher. For a club that has spent years searching for stability and impact at that position, his rise gives Oakland something it has not had in a long time, even if the bigger question around the roster still hangs in the background. [Read more 🡒]
As Embarrassing White Sox Loss Put An Even Uglier Spotlight On This Slide
The Athletics trip through Chicago turned into another rough night at Rate Field, where the White Sox rolled past them and kept Oaklands recent slide in full view. The As offense never found much traction, and the game quickly took on the look of one of those losses that can linger because it offers so little to build on.
Oakland did get a solo home run from Tyler Soderstrom, but it was a small consolation in a game that only deepened the clubs frustration. The defeat pushed the Athletics losing streak to seven, and with the White Sox putting together one of their most complete showings of the season, the As were left trying to move on from a result that only sharpened the questions around where this stretch is headed. [Read more 🡒]