MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

When the A’s took their divisional trip through Texas just under a month ago, it wasn’t a pretty start. The Texas Rangers swept the team and they were looking at a quick business flight over to Houston, where the AL West powerhouse Astros waited for a 4-game series. It didn’t look promising.

From that point on, the Athletics became the second half nightmare for MLB, that they have come to be known for. The A’s swept the Astros in their crib and haven’t looked back. After sweeping the Twins in Minnesota this week, the team is on a 17-8 run in 25 games, which is the second best record over that span; only the Brewers have won more games. The Athletics top six in the lineup is as potent as any offense in baseball, and the stats weigh that out. 

Jacob Wilsons’ backup at shortstop, Darrell Hernaiz, hasn’t gone hitless in a game, in three series while third baseman Brett Harris was promoted to take the place of recently traded Miguel Andujar, and he has hits in six of his seven games since getting to West Sacramento, showing Athletics are deep with the bats. The most surprising development is the success of the pitching staff of late. With #1 starter Luis Severino out until mid-September, the staff is mostly rookies and it wasn’t looking like a positive rest of the season. Manager Mark Kotsay has improved his player usage on the mound, limiting innings and outing frequency and its working. The A’s have won 6-of-8 series since being swept in Arlington.

Athletics Batting: Numbers are fun when your winning and the bats have been on  fire of late but pitch selection has to be mentioned. As a team, the Athletics have drawn 27 walks in the last two series, and they are turning walks into runs. The team is hitting so well, they took first baseman Nick Kurtz (of 4-home run game fame) and put him at leadoff for the Twins series. It may sound odd, putting your power hitter at leadoff, and it is rare but you need only look at his history to see why. Kurtz batted .333 at Wake Forest and .344 in his brief stint in the minors so hitting for average while a power hitter is in his wheelhouse. He responded by hitting .600 with four runs and a team leading five walks in the 3- game series. There was no power dropoff as he hit his 22nd & 23rd double, and his 26th home run on the year.

Catcher Shea Langeliers continued his home run barrage, hitting his 27th in the series opener and 28th the next day. Langeliers has a home run in every series since the Astros trip and leads MLB since the All-Star Game with 16 home runs. In Athletics history, you have to go back nearly a century to find a 19-game hitting streak from a player 23 or younger. Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom went 4-for-4 in the finale to extend the hitting streak to 19 and on-base streak to 21 games.

Athletics Pitching: The young starters are holding their own while, as a unit, the relievers pitched a nearly flawless series. Jacob Lopez (7-6) had the best start, going six innings, giving up four hits, two runs, on eight strikeouts to take the opening game win. Jack Perkins, a converted reliever, went five innings, allowed only three hits and two runs to take the finale. Perkins (3-2) had control issues and gave up four walks but took the win. The relievers went 12 1/3 innings and allowed just one run to absolutely dominate the Twins hitters. As a team, Minnesota only hit four extra-base-hits the entire series and were held to under two runs a game.

Upcoming Series: The Athletics (59-70) head back to Seattle, where the season began, to take on the Mariners (68-60). Cal Raleigh and his 47 home runs will be daunting but he is hitting under .200 in August so the A’s may be seeing Seattle at the right time. A’s rookie RHP Luis Morales (1-0, 1.86) will get another start in his young career and will take on Mariners RHP Brian Woo (10-7, 3.20). The season series is tied 2-2.

Game Time: August 22, 2025, 7:10pm T-Mobile Park Seattle, Washington