Athletics series preview: A feistier team than expected

They’re not groin-grabbingly awful!

The Oakland Athletics were embarrassingly bad last year, pretty much by design. Their 112 losses were the most in baseball and the most by the franchise in a century. It was a roster full of players that would make a Triple-A club blush. They couldn’t hit, they couldn’t pitch, they couldn’t win.

This year, the A’s aren’t good necessarily, but they’re not god-awful either. Their 19 wins are already 38 percent of their win total from a year ago. They revamped their bullpen and it has gone from worst to one of the best. They still have one of the worst offenses and worst pitching staffs overall, and they’ve dropped 10 out of their last 12, so perhaps we are starting to see their true talent level. But they have been good enough this year to be at least a little bit feisty.

Oakland Athletics (19-27) vs. Kansas City Royals (26-19) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Athletics: 3.72 runs scored/game (26th in MLB), 4.80 runs allowed/game (26th)

Royals: 4.49 runs scored/game (14th), 3.49 runs allowed/game (2nd)

The A’s have hit the fourth-most home runs, and former Royals outfielder Brent Rooker is tied for eighth in baseball with 10 round-trippers. They have the twelfth-highest walk rate, but the fourth-highest strikeout rate. They’re hitting just .218 as a team - only the White Sox have been worse.

Abraham Toro, acquired from the Brewers last winter, has been on a tear lately, hitting .364/.410/.546 with two home runs over his last 20 games, but he has one of the lowest walk rates in baseball. Former Marlins prospect J.J. Bleday has turned a corner this year, but is hitting just .172 against lefties. Catcher Shea Langeliers has nine home runs and is ninth in all of baseball with a .278 ISO.

Only six teams have stolen fewer bases than the A’s, who are 21-for-30 in attempts this year. The A’s are fourth-worst in baseball in Outs Above Average with especially poor play from infielders Max Schuemann, Tyler Nevin, and J.D. Davis.

The Oakland rotation has been decimated by injuries with Alex Wood, Joe Boyle, Luis Medina, and Paul Blackburn all on the Injured List, with Ken Waldichuk undergoing Tommy John surgery this week. Mitch Spence will start tonight, but he’s been a reliever and pitched on Monday, so expect a bullpen game. He’s a slider/cutter pitcher who gets hitters to hit grounders more than half the time.

Ross Stripling is just 1-7 this year, but has given the A’s at least five innings in eight of his nine starts. He gave up just three runs in five innings against the Astros in his last start, but failed to get out of the second inning after allowing 11 runs in his outing before that. He has the second-lowest strikeout rate among all starters with a fastball that averages 91 mph.

J.P. Sears has the sixth-highest flyball rate among starters, the seventh-highest hard-hit rate, and one of the worst-rated fastballs, resulting in the tenth-highest home run rate. He does feature a plus sweeper that opponents are hitting just .153 against. Lefties are hitting just .180/.226/.340 against him.

A’s relievers have a 3.41 ERA and are seventh in strikeout rate. The star has been rookie Mason Miller, who is blowing hitters away with a 100 mph fastball that clocks in as the fastest in baseball. He has converted all eight save opportunities, hasn’t given up a run since March, and has allowed opponents to hit just .113/.179/.161 against him with an insane 57 percent strikeout rate. Lucas Erceg and Austin Adams are also among league leaders with strikeout rates north of 30 percent. Lefty T.J. McFarland has allowed just one unintentional walk this year, but is allowing opponents to hit .338 against him.

The A’s are just 1-7 on their current road trip that has taken them to Seattle and Houston, and are 9-14 on the road overall. The Royals dropped 4 of 6 to them last year, but could turn the tables this year with an improved pitching staff. The Royals will celebrate the 2014 team that defeated the A’s in the Wild Card this weekend, it would be great to see the current team get a few more wins against that club.