Athletics Notes: “Out of the frying pan…”

By Tim Byrnes

The Athletics knew early May would be a rough stretch on the schedule. With the division-leading New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers up first and the (24-17) San Francisco Giants following, this is one of the more difficult stretches early in the 2025 season.

The weekend series with the Yankees went about what one would expect. With their new torpedo bats, the stacked lineup of the Yankees pounded the ball every game and took the series 2-1.

These new bats made an already potent offense even more dangerous. Produced by Hillerich & Bradsby, the makers of the Louisville Slugger, torpedo bats have a wide barrel that maximizes the ‘sweet spot’ on the bat.

New York showed the A’s how potent the new bats are with twenty extra-base hits and plenty of loud outs over the three-game series.

Due to temperatures in West Sacramento reaching as high as the mid-90s, the top two offenses in the American League combined for forty-four runs on sixty-six hits over the three games.

Athletics Batting:
A’s Manager Mark Kotsay seems to be deciding on the top of his day-to-day batting order.

Right-fielder Lawrence Butler has swung and missed his way off the leadoff spot, and SS Jacob Wilson(.348) has taken over the top of the order.

Fans have to remind themselves this kid is a rookie, and the Athletics organization should extend him ASAP!

Behind him, RF/DH Brent Rooker and LF Tyler Soderstrom have flip-flopped in the order, while C Shea Langeliers has become our cleanup hitter.

Langeliers is heating up at the plate again and batted over .500 with five Rbi’s versus the Yankees. His arm is still being tested by opponents and he gave up another two stolen bases against New York. That brings his numbers to 31-of-36 attempts to steal.

Miguel Andujar solidifies the middle of the batting order with his solid .306 average in inconsistent playing time.

The bottom of the order varies from game to game, but Luis Urias has six home runs early on, and his surprising power is anchoring the back end of the lineup. Urias is having his best power numbers since 2021, when he hit 23 long balls, and has hit safely in seven of the ten games played in May.

Athletics Pitching:
Pitcher JP Sears (4-2, 2.80) continues to be the anchor for the starting pitchers early on.

Sears pitched five innings of four-hit ball, with a lone earned run coming on an Aaron Judge round-tripper.

Right-hander Grant Holman (4-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings to notch the victory and lower his ERA to a stellar 0.82.

The Yankee bats hammered much of the remaining staff that made appearances this weekend.

On another note, the scoreless innings streak to start the year by RP Justin Sterner (18 2/3) has ended. 

Over 18 appearances, he has kept hitters off balance and scoreless but was touched up for five earned runs in 2/3 of an inning to raise his era to 2.33.

The scoreless streak is among the best in Athletics franchise history.

Upcoming Series: “And into the fire…”
The Athletics (21-20) travel south to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (27-14).
Led by All-World DH Shohei Ohtani, over half the batting order of Los Angeles is hitting over .300 and has twenty Rbi’s.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff is a full-earned run better than the Athletics’, and the A’s have the second-lowest quality pitching starts in the American League.

Game Time:
Athletics- LHP J Springs (4-3, 4.81) versus RHP Landon Knack (2-0, 4.61)
May 13, 2025, 7:10pm
Dodger Stadium

 

 

1 Comment to "Athletics Notes: “Out of the frying pan…”"

  1. Aaaayyyyyys's Gravatar Aaaayyyyyys
    May 13, 2025 - 10:40 am | Permalink

    *Hillerich & Bradsby

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