The A’s may be stuck near the bottom of the American League, but they still have a chance to make life miserable for a team chasing October.
That’s the setup this week against the Jays, and the middle game of the series looks especially interesting. Toronto already had to deal with Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease in Game 1, and now the A’s could lean into a different kind of edge: familiarity with Jose Soriano.
Soriano came over to the Jays at the trade deadline from the Angels, but he’s hardly a mystery to the A’s. He spent time in the AL West, so this is a matchup they’ve seen plenty of before. With Toronto sitting just outside a Wild Card spot, every win matters, and that gives Game 2 real weight.
The A’s won’t have all of their usual bats available, which takes some of the shine off that history against Soriano. Still, a few active hitters have had success against him.
Lawrence Butler has 20 career at-bats against Soriano and owns a 1.133 OPS with three homers and six RBIs in those matchups. Zack Gelof is also batting .250 against him.
Oakland’s offense has held up even without Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers, but the pitching side is where things could get tricky. Jack Perkins is slated to take the ball, and consistency has not been his calling card.
This season hasn’t gone the way the A’s imagined when it began. What looked like a possible step forward in the rebuild has turned into a finish near the bottom of the league, with the club sitting just ahead of the Angels. By the end of June, they had slipped from first place all the way to fourth, and they’ve been stuck below third since.
With JT Ginn out, the A’s aren’t playing for a postseason spot of their own. But they can still make an impact on the race by playing spoiler, and this series gives them a clean chance to do it.
In Other News...
As Young Core Is Creating A Tough Long-Term Decision
Young cores can be a blessing and a headache, and the Athletics are getting a dose of both as they sort through the long view on their roster. The same volatility that can make a player look like a breakout one month and a question mark the next is showing up in real time, with names like Lawrence Butler and Zack Gelof sitting at the center of the conversation for Oakland as it tries to map out who belongs in the next wave.
Butlers uneven path has still included signs of real growth, while Gelofs value has come with a different kind of profile as the As evaluate how much flexibility and upside they can count on moving forward. For a team that has to balance patience with certainty, the challenge is less about whether these players can help and more about how much stability they can offer in roles that are still being defined. [Read more 🡒]
Bolte Gave The As A Rickey Henderson Feeling Again
A fast, opportunistic night at the ballpark gave the Athletics a reminder of what their speed can look like when it takes over a game. Against the Blue Jays, Bolte was in the middle of everything, swiping three bases in the first three innings and adding a solo home run to help fuel a 6-5 walk-off win that had a little bit of old-school As flavor to it.
The performance fit the kind of game Oakland rarely gets to revisit, with baserunning pressure showing up early and often. Boltes blend of power and speed stood out on its own, but the bigger picture was the way the As kept forcing the issue on the bases, creating an inning-by-inning urgency that has not shown up this dramatically in years. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Can Still Make Things Miserable For A Desperate Blue Jays Team
The Athletics are long out of the playoff race, but they still have plenty of leverage over teams that are trying to survive it, and Toronto is one of them. Oaklands offense has struggled to put enough balls in play with authority, and the bullpen has been a work in progress, but there is still a little spoiler value left in a team that can make a contender work for everything. Mark Kotsay will have to navigate the series with that in mind, because even a club with little left to play for can alter the mood of a desperate October chase.
The opening game sets up as a test of whether Oakland can scratch together enough early offense to avoid falling behind quickly, especially with Jacob Lopez lined up against Dylan Cease. The As do not need to be perfect to matter here, only stubborn enough to keep Toronto uncomfortable and force the Blue Jays into a game they would rather not play. If Oakland can find a way to get a better start than it has in recent series openers, the rest of the matchup starts to look a lot less routine for a team still trying to hold onto its postseason position. [Read more 🡒]