Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!
I watched most of Saturday’s tenacious victory and noted that being about one eighth through the season, Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker, and Shea Langeliers are all on pace to hit at least about 40 home runs. That’s pretty sweet—I expect Lawrence Butler will be in the mix before long.
All those dingers underscore the fact that this Athletics team has a lot of talent—along with some deep flaws on defense that were as abundantly clear as ever in yesterday’s four-error debacle.
Despite some unsightly stumbles, the A’s are pretty close to playing .500 ball and just three games out of the AL West leading Texas Rangers, whom the A’s will face in a three game series in Sacramento that begins tomorrow.
The A’s are but a sweep away from standings parity with the Rangers, but the green and gold are nevertheless presently in last place in a very clustered divisional race. AN’s own Blogfather has a rundown on how the competition is looking so far.
The general consensus coming into this season has been that the A’s could very plausibly get back to playing .500 or better ball, but will likely remain a longshot for the postseason. This could be the case, but the AL West looks pretty up for grabs right now. Let’s see if the A’s can’t up the slope of their trend line this week with some overdue success at Sutter Health Park.
Raleigh pulls even w/ Sodie.
Good to see Liam back in the saddle.