Athletics at Rangers Series Preview
Rematch against a division foe
The A’s are on the road after wrapping up their 6-game home stand against the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox. The team won both series, taking two of three against both teams to go 4-2 at home, which was also the team’s first winning home stand at Sutter Health Park. It was a fun home stand as well as they also collected their first two walk off wins at their temporary Sacramento home. They’re slowly improving that dreadful home record they began the year with but for now it’s time to hit the road.
The first stop on the two-city road trip will be in Arlington for a rematch with the Rangers to finish off the month of April. The A’s enter the series at an even 14-14 and have won eight of their last 12 games. The offense has begun to cool down after a hot start to the season. First baseman Nick Kurtz’s first homestand saw him go 4-for-16 but with an alarming seven strikeouts and no walks. Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hasn’t hit a home run in a week. And Jacob Wilson is experiencing his first slump of the year as he has just five hits in his last 23 at bats. Luckily for the A’s Brent Rooker is starting to swing the bat well as he enters a ballpark he’s seen lots of success previously. And second baseman Luis Urias, now firmly the starter at the keystone, has begun heating up at the plate as well with three long balls in the past seven games. They’re going to need some help from their teammates going up against a hot Rangers pitching staff.
Texas was in first place just a few days ago but is now second in the AL West after losing two of three to the San Francisco Giants including two straight. The Rangers got off to a strong start this year on the strength of their red=hot pitching but their offense has not lived up to expectations. They’re currently last in all of baseball in runs scored and rank 25th in OPS. Their best hitter has far and away been outfielder Wyatt Langford. He’s slashing .344/.419/.688 with six long balls and four stolen bases so the A’s will need to be extra careful with the former 1st-round pick. That’s helped offset slow starts from Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien but they’ve also lost shortstop Corey Seager to injury and he will miss this series. Even with their offensive struggles they’ve still managed to hit 30 home runs as a team so they can punish mistakes.
Today’s matchup to kick things off will see Patrick Corbin take the mound for Texas. The veteran lefty has made just three starts for the Rangers after signing a minor league deal halfway through Spring Training. That investment has already paid off as he’s looked good in each start since joining the Athletics’ rival. In three starts Corbin has a 3.77 ERA while pitching in 14 1⁄3 frames. His last start was actually against the A’s last week in Sacramento. In that matchup Corbin allowed just two solo home runs over five innings en route to the lone win the Rangers got over the A’s in the previous series.
It’ll be a duel between lefties as the Athletics will go with fellow lefty JP Sears to start the road trip. Sears has been arguably the team’s best starter this season, leading all Athletics rotation members with a 3.21 ERA through five outings. Four of his five starts were quality starts and he hasn’t given up more than three runs in any appearance this season. He’ll be looking to keep that streak going against a Texas team he saw his last time on the mound. He pitched five full frames against the Rangers while allowing just two runs, good enough to earn his third win. Can he get his fourth this week in Arlington?
Tuesday afternoon’s game is a bit up in the air for the A’s right now after fifth starter JT Ginn was placed on the IL on Saturday morning. The team won’t be able to count on Ginn for the foreseeable future so the team will be thinking about a long-term option there. For now it seems likely that the team will give left-hander Jacob Lopez a chance to make his first start of the season but the team could always throw a curveball and go another direction, like Mitch Spence. This will be worth monitoring and we may get an update as soon as this afternoon.
Texas on the other hand knows exactly who will go for them on Tuesday evening. Former Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom will take the ball for his second straight start against the A’s (5 1⁄3 IP, 2 ER last time out). He’ll never reach the heights of his prime but deGrom is finally healthy after dealing with injuries the past few years and he’s gotten off to a strong start this year for Texas. While his 3.33 ERA is impressive it’s only good enough for third-best in a strong Rangers rotation. He hasn’t gotten hit hard in any start yet this year but doesn’t have any wins to show for it either thanks to the lackluster offense behind him. He’ll be on a mission for his first W of the season and it’ll be up to the A’s offense to prevent that.
Wrapping up the series on Wednesday will be right-hander Luis Severino versus Nathan Eovaldi, a matchup between the teams’ Opening Day starters. Severino has been up and down in his first month with the Athletics but overall he’s sporting a fine 3.31 ERA over his first six starts. He got hit hard in back-to-back outings earlier in the year but has now put together three straight quality starts, allowing five runs over his last 19 2⁄3 frames. His last time out saw him yield three runs to the White Sox, a game the A’s would go on to win but Severino did not get the W. He’ll be looking for that second with the A’s on Wednesday evening.
Eovaldi meanwhile is having a stellar season for Texas. His 2.21 ERA would lead most teams but it’s only good for second on the Rangers. The 35-year old veteran has already made six starts so far and five of those were quality starts. The A’s were lucky enough to dodge the hot hand when the Rangers came to Sacramento but they’ll see him in Texas for the first time this year to wrap up the series. Runs are going to be at a premium all series and especially in the finale against Eovaldi. Let’s see how it’ll play out.