MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

Athletics Notes:
We usually discuss the previous series first, but just in:
*Per ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, 2024 #4 overall MLB Draft choice first baseman Nick Kurtz has been informed he will be activated in time for Wednesday’s Athletics game.

Slashing a .321/.385/.655 line with seven doubles, seven home runs, and 24 RBIs at AAA Las Vegas (17 games), he had nothing left to prove to anyone at the minor league level. A first baseman means there will have to be some DH/INF movement to accommodate Kurtz, but there’s no doubt he can only add to the Athletics Top 5 American League offense.

As for the Brewers series, the Athletics lost the rubber game 14-1 Sunday and the series 2-1. The loss ended a streak of ten games where A’s starters allowed three or fewer earned runs.

Thankfully, the Cincinnati Reds dropped 24 runs on the Baltimore Orioles, so almost everyone missed that the Athletics got blown out.

Shea Langeliers had about the worst game a catcher could have.
The Brewers executed two double steals and two additional steals in the first inning alone. Langeliers airmailed tosses into center and left field for errors to top off his first inning. By the fifth, the Brew crew had stolen nine bags and, per unwritten rules, shut it down. Jacob Wilson and J.J. Bleday added errant throws to make it six A’s errors this series.

Problem is the word is out to run on Langeliers now, and it would be ok if he were batting better than .211. It wasn’t all Shea because starter Jeffrey Springs doesn’t throw that hard. His four-seam fastball tops around 91, and he gets outs mixing in 78 mph changeups, so lots of slow pitches to run on. Shea is gonna have to gun some people down to get respect back.

Athletics Batting:
I had written some doom and gloom over only seven A’s crossing home plate the entire series, and all I can think about is Kurtz’s big bat-making pitchers pitch honestly to Tyler Soderstrom, Bleday, and Brent Rooker.

Tyler Soderstrom cooled off considerably, going 2/11 with six strikeouts in his last eight at-bats. Despite a poor series, his average is near .300, and he still leads MLB in home runs without using a canoe oar, ala Aaron Judge.

Shortstop Jacob Wilson is not slowing down at the plate, getting hits in each game and upping his top-ten batting average to .354, going 5/11. Thinking like a veteran, Wilson caught Milwaukee starter Chad Patrick napping and was 2/3 to second base before Patrick even looked at first base, and Wilson grabbed a free ninety feet.

As a team, the A’s are in the top five in the American League in almost every category: hits, doubles, triples, home runs, and batting average, among others.

A pattern showing up is the lack of offense in the final game of each series. The Athletics have won only one series finale all year and have nine errors in the last four.

Kurtz is gonna be fun to watch! His bat will help the whole lineup.

Athletics Pitching:
Good news first. Luis Severino finally showed why he has the largest contract in Athletics history. He started the season 0-3, primarily due to a lack of runs by the offense in his starts. He pitched eight strong innings of three hits and one earned run ball. Finishing the seventh and eighth innings combined took less than ten pitches.

Just promoted from AAA Las Vegas, former 26th round pick from the Giants, Jacob Lopez was used twice this series, going 2.2 innings of four-hit ball and no earned runs.

Mason Miller is clocking his fastball at 102+ and had another run-free inning with two strikeouts.

Now the bad news. The A’s are the second worst pitching staff in many categories, including ERA, opponents batting average, whip 1.47, and walks given up.

The starters keep us in games, but middle relief has been inconsistent.

Upcoming Series:
Texas comes to West Sacramento leading the AL West at (13-9).
Batting a low .220, the Rangers are having issues scoring runs. They survive on a 3.23-team era. A’s come in with a near .250 team average and a near basement 4.48 era.

Gametime:
Tuesday 4/22 705pm pst
Sutter Health Park
Patrick Corbin(1-0, 3.86) versus Osvaldo Bido(2-1, 2.61)