Athletics vs. Phillies Series Preview

Brand new series and a chance to snap the losing streak

The A’s are down in the dumps right now. Losers of nine straight, the longest streak in the majors this season. The club has fallen from as close as one game out of first place to dead last in the AL West in the span of just a couple weeks. Things haven’t been going well for a young team experiencing growing pains together as half of them are in their first full season of being a major league regular. A lot of the blame for this losing streak falls on the shoulders of the bullpen but it’s a team sport and we win and lose as a team. A lot of losing recently but things can change quickly in baseball.

Meanwhile the Phillies enter this game in the exact opposite position: they’ve won seven straight games and have a two-game lead atop their division. Their high-spending ways have paid off since they’re always in the race for the playoffs, including three straight trips to the postseason. And more than that, they’re a legitimate contender to win the whole thing if they can make it to the playoffs. They’ve made the World Series and NLCS in two of the last three years so they have the experience. That starting rotation is as strong as any in the league and could power them all the way to a championship.

• Phillies W/L record: 32-18 (1st in NL East)
• Run differential: +39
• Team OPS: .749 (5th of 30)
• Team ERA: 3.71 (11th of 30)

The Phillies have gotten off to a great start to their season in what is always a competitive NL East. Entering this series they have the second-best record in all of baseball, behind only the Detroit Tigers. Led by the bats of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos the Phillies have one of the strongest lineups in the entire league. They rank 3rd in both team batting average and on-base percentage. For all the big bats in their lineup they’re only tied for 13th in the league in long balls with four other teams and a lot of that is from one player alone. Schwarber is currently tied for the league lead with an insane 17 home runs so the rest of the lineup has been a disappointment for Philadelphia in the power department. They’ve made up for that lack of power with quality speed on the bases; they have 46 steals compared to just nine caught stealing, led by Turner and second baseman Bryson Stott.

The A’s are limping into this series after losing nine straight games, including a four-game sweep at home at the hands of the Angels. The pitching has been a major let down as the team has an allowed an insane 72 runs during this nine-game losing streak (eight runs per game). Even if the offense wasn’t sputtering they wouldn’t be able to keep pace with that. The bats are faltering though as they’ve only managed to push across 26 runs during this stretch (2.8 runs per game). The power has dried up and a shakeup is incoming with the arrival of stud outfield prospect Denzel Clarke, who will very likely be in the lineup tonight for his major league debut. Maybe he can provide the spark the A’s have been missing recently.

Tonight the Phillies will march out ace right-hander Zack Wheeler for the first game of the series. The 35-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down. Through 10 starts Wheeler has gone 5-1 and has a 2.67 ERA in 64 innings. He’s arguably having just as good if not better season than last year, when he finished second in NL Cy Young voting. The series starts with a tough test for the A’s.

While the Athletics haven’t yet officially announced their starters for this weekend we have clues and hints. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs didn’t pitch during the four-game sweep against the Angels so he lines up to start against Wheeler. The 32-year-old has turned his season around here in May, pitching to a terrific 1.46 ERA in four starts since the calendar flipped. This is the production that the team was hoping for when they traded for him this off-season. Let’s see if he can keep it going against a tough Phillies lineup.

Saturday’s contest will see the Athletics turn to a rookie in left-hander Jacob Lopez, per Martin Gallegos:

Lopez has already made one start for the club this season back on April 29th against the Rangers. That outing didn’t last long as the 27-year-old Lopez couldn’t make it through three innings. That said he’s looked solid down in Triple-A this year and has made two encouraging starts since his return to the Aviators. With Osvaldo Bido optioned and JT Ginn on the IL there is plenty of opportunity for Lopez to grab a rotation spot but he’ll have to earn it.

Opposing Lopez will be Cristopher Sanchez for the Phillies. The left-hander is in the midst of another great season as he has a 3.10 ERA through his first nine starts for the Phillies. That’s only good enough for third-best in the rotation, which speaks to the quality the Phillies have atop of their starting rotation. On the downside for him he has given up five runs in 12 innings over his past two starts, which at least bodes well for the Athletics’ chances against Sanchez. He’ll be the “easiest” starter the team sees this weekend.

Sunday afternoon the A’s wrap up the series with a matchup against former top prospect and starter Jesus Luzardo. The left-hander found his way to Philadelphia this off-season after three and a half seasons in Miami. He’s clearly enjoying his new environment as he has a pristine 1.95 ERA through ten starts, good for seventh overall in baseball. It took a while and for him to leave the organization but he’s finally living up to the high expectations that have followed him since his prospect days. He’s already on his way to his first All-Star appearances and if he keeps this up he’ll be in a competition with Wheeler for the Cy Young at the end of the season.

The A’s, if they stay on turn through the rotation, would wrap up the series by sending Gunnar Hoglund to the mound for what would be his fifth start. Hoglund got out to a terrific start with the A’s but it seems the league has caught on. After allowing just three runs in his first two starts he’s now allowed 9 runs over his previous two. With the state of the Athletics rotation he isn’t in any immediate danger of losing his spot but a quality outing on Sunday in the finale would go a long way for his roster security.