SACRAMENTO — With the 2025 Midsummer Classic in full swing, capped off by today’s star-studded All Star Game, it is officially the time of year where MLB teams evaluate their first half performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the Athletics, this break marks the end of the team\u2019s first 98 games in Sacramento, where they\u2019re playing at Sutter Health Park while they await relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As was expected coming into this season, the A\u2019s do not look like a team that will be competing for a playoff spot. However, the emergence of young talent, along with a few standout moments throughout the year have given a glimmer of hope to a fanbase that has been hopeless since the 2022 season.<\/p>\n
The A\u2019s currently sit at 41-57 on the year, putting them at last place in the AL West by a seven\u00a0game margin. Yet still, there is reason for optimism as this is the team\u2019s best record at the break since 2021, when they were 52-40.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Athletics’ season thus far can be broken up into three parts.<\/p>\n
On May 5th, through 36 games, the A\u2019s sat at 20-16, one game behind the Seattle Mariners for first place in the AL West. This marked the most games the A\u2019s had been above .500 since they were 7-5 to begin the 2022 season. The hot start showed fans that the team was improving, and capable of winning games.<\/p>\n
The season would then flip completely, with the A\u2019s going 8-28 over their next 36 games, including two separate losing streaks of at least nine games. After such a hot start, this slump, due in large part to poor pitching, put them at 28-44 through 72 games, all but putting an end to any hopes of a magical playoff run in their first year away from Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The A\u2019s would bounce back heading into the All Star Break though, breaking even in the remaining 26 games, going 13-13. In this stretch, they won series\u2019 over the Royals, Rays, and Blue Jays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The biggest highlight of the season has undoubtedly been the display of young infield talent for the Athletics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rookie SS Jacob Wilson and rookie 1B Nick Kurtz have been undeniable bright spots thus far. Wilson leads the team with 113 hits and a .332 AVG, along with 9 HR on the year, while Kurtz totaled 53 hits, 17 HR and 44 RBI in just 58 games played since being called up.<\/p>\n
Wilson, the favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year, will start in today\u2019s All Star game, the first Athletic to do so since Josh Donaldson in 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DH Brent Rooker was named an All Star alongside Wilson, batting .279 with 106 hits and 20 HR so far this season. Rooker competed in this year\u2019s Home Run Derby, but was narrowly eliminated in the first round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most excitement surrounding the A\u2019s this season has come from high-flying centerfielder Denzel Clarke. Clarke has had two jaw dropping home run robberies this season, including one against the Angels on June 9th, where Clarke scaled and extended over the outfield wall to make the catch, sending the baseball world into a frenzy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barring a historic comeback post All Star break, the A\u2019s will once again miss the playoffs this season. They have the fifth worst record in the league, rank last in attendance and have failed to retain much traction in their new home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, unlike in recent years, alongside the negatives, the A\u2019s have shown glimpses of a clubhouse that is slowly trending upward. Young talent, excitement and all, the team will look to continue stringing together wins, and finish the 2025 campaign off strong.<\/p>\n
The A\u2019s second half begins this Friday July 18th in Cleveland, the first of lengthy nine game road trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTO — With the 2025 Midsummer Classic in full swing, capped off by today’s star-studded All Star Game,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2391],"tags":[537,5,545,14905,4,3226,169,28837],"class_list":{"0":"post-178974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athletics","8":"tag-athletics","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brent-rooker","11":"tag-denzel-clarke","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-mlb-athletics","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-tst-las-vegas"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114859259025890945","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}