The Oakland A's Are Sneaky Good?

Jason Burke | Apr 27, 2024

Apr 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Brent Rooker (25) rounds the / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

After splitting a four-game series with the New York Yankees on the road to start the week, the Oakland A's came from behind to tie the game in the top of the ninth in Baltimore on Friday, and then secured the win in the tenth. On a road trip that included stops against the three top teams in the American League, the A's are holding their own--mostly.

This week against New York and the first game against Baltimore, the A's are 3-2. The first stop in Cleveland last weekend ended in a series sweep by the home team, and former A's catcher and new Guardians manager Stephen Vogt seems to have his old team's number in 2024, boasting a 1-6 record and providing Oakland with some lopsided losses.

The good news is that the A's won't face Cleveland against this year, unless the meet again in October.

If you take away both series against the Guardians from the A's record, Oakland is 10-10 on the year with a -4 run differential. A .500 record would put the A's within a game of the third and final wild card spot as things stand right now. Coming off of a 112-loss season, that's pretty impressive.

In their five games this week against the two juggernauts of the AL East, the A's have scored 14 runs and given up 14. The Yankees and Orioles are thought to be serious title contenders, and the A's are playing them fairly close, outside of Wednesday's 7-3 loss in New York. Friday's win in Baltimore came in a game started by O's ace Corbin Burnes, too.

Closer Mason Miller has been the talk of the team after he started collecting saves on the east coast by pumping un-hittable 103 mile per hour fastballs. Having a shutdown closer sure helps when the offense is scoring under three runs per game for the season.

While the offense hasn't been stellar on a consistent basis just yet, there are some bats that just haven't seen the results they deserve.

Lawrence Butler is one of those players. His Baseball Savant page is littered with red lines, which top out at the 97th percentile for his average exit velocity of 94.4 mph. Butler is batting .203 this season, but his expected batting average (xBA) is .280, thanks to the quality of the contact he's making at the plate. Only five players have been more unlucky than Butler at the plate. this year His whiff rate and strikeout rate could use a bump, but every other stat is in the upper echelon of the league.

If those hits start falling, he could be a huge catalyst for this club.

Brent Rooker, whose 2-for-4 performance was the difference on Friday night, also has some encouraging numbers to keep an eye on. His Barrel% sits in the 97th percentile, and his hard hit rate is in the 94th. Both of those are above where they were last year when he was the A's lone All Star representative.

The bad news is that his xBA is actually .188, 12 points below his actual average. The reason for this is that his launch angle on the year is still hovering at 29 degrees, while it was at 17 degrees last year, coupled with a high whiff rate. He's lifting the ball a little more than he probably wants to, as evidenced by the two doubles he hit last night. The first one, which led off the ninth, had a 13 degree LA, while the second one, that brought home Shea Langeliers as the game-winning run, had a LA of 18 degrees. That's where he wants his swing to live.

It's also encouraging that JJ Bleday collected three free passes against the O's, since drawing walks is a big part of his game. He'd had just four on the season coming into the game. Getting him to click with the bat, or at least get on base at a good clip, could be another key to unlocking the offense.

Right now the team is leaning on their pitching staff, which has been pretty decent overall. They hold a 3.94 ERA as a unit, which ranks 18th in MLB, but their relievers hold a cumulative 2.91 ERA, which ranks 8th.

Oakland may be sneaky good this year. The A's could use one more win against the Orioles in Baltimore this weekend to show what kind of a team they really are, and with JP Sears and Paul Blackburn slated for the next two games, it's not out of the question that it happens.