The Athletics don’t have much room for another wasted series, and a chance to steady things against the Guardians starts with a few familiar names. After being swept by the Rays, the A’s need something to grab onto quickly. With the season winding down, they’re still looking for momentum they can carry into 2027, and a series win here would be a good place to start.
Shea Langeliers is usually the first place you look when trying to find a player who can swing a series, but he hasn’t been able to get much going during the Athletics’ four-game losing streak. In the three games he’s appeared in during that stretch, he’s batting just .167 with a .334 OPS. That’s a far cry from the early-season MVP-level production he flashed, and while expectations are tempered because he’s coming off a meniscus tear, the A’s would gladly take anything closer to his usual impact.
Jacob Lopez has been the most reliable arm for the Athletics since the break, and maybe their best second-half player overall. He turned in a 2.48 ERA across 29.0 innings in August and followed that with a 3.26 ERA in July.
The recent results haven’t been as sharp, though, and he’s now allowed back-to-back 4+ ER games. His last outing was especially rough, with five runs charged to him in just 3.2 innings pitched.
If Lopez can simply get through five innings without putting the A’s in a deep hole, they should have a real shot to take Game 2.
Lawrence Butler has also been one of the Athletics’ better bats since the All-Star break, but his recent stretch has been uneven. Over the losing streak, he’s gone 3-for-14 with a .214 average and a .742 OPS, a number that gets a boost from his solo home run in the 10-1 loss to the Rays.
The talent is obvious, and the tools are there for him to look like a star, but the production has to show up more regularly. If it doesn’t, the questions around his future are only going to get louder.
In Other News...
A's Suddenly Have A Pitching Problem They Can't Ignore
The Athletics opened their final road series with a 5-3 loss to Cleveland, and the familiar issue that has been hanging around their staff showed up again. Mason Barnett got the start but could not settle in, as the Guardians chipped away early and turned the game with a steady enough offensive push to put the As in another uphill spot before the night really got moving.
Cleveland got the kind of lineup answers Oakland has had trouble matching lately, with Travis Bazzana and Jos Ramrez supplying the key swings while the bullpen finished the job. Once the Guardians handed the ball over to their relief corps, the As offense went quiet, and a game that felt winnable early ended as another reminder that the margins on the mound are getting harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Athletics Let Another Early Opportunity Slip Away In Frustrating Skid
The Athletics keep finding ways to make the early innings look promising, only to watch the momentum drain away once the game settles in. After getting swept by the Rays, they dropped a fourth straight when Zack Gelof gave them an immediate lift in the first inning and the offense added more hits later, but nothing else crossed the plate.
Mason Barnett gave Oakland three innings before the game turned in the fourth, and the bullpen did what it could to keep the score from getting away. Luis Medina and Elvis Alvarado helped finish things off without allowing a hit, but the bigger issue remains the same for a club in the middle of a frustrating skid: the A's are starting well enough to matter, then failing to build on it when the chance is there. [Read more 🡒]
A's Face A Real Catching Decision With Langeliers Uncertainty Looming
The Athletics season has already been dragged down by injuries to core players, and the catching picture has become another reminder of how thin the roster has been stretched. With All-Star Shea Langeliers sidelined and the club getting little offense from backups Jonah Heim and Brian Serven, Oakland has spent far too much time trying to patch together a position that usually has to provide stability.
Langeliers status is now one of the bigger questions hanging over the offseason, because the As do not just have to think about getting through the rest of this year. They may need help behind the plate even if he returns, and if the front office decides to look outside the organization, free agency could become part of the conversation as Oakland tries to sort out what its catching depth should look like going forward. [Read more 🡒]