The Athletics continued their rough start to spring training, losing 6-2 to the San Francisco Giants. The A\u2019s stopped scoring after the first inning, while the Giants scored six unanswered runs. Good thing spring stats and records don\u2019t matter!<\/p>\n
Looking to avoid a third straight loss to begin preseason action, the A\u2019s started the game strongly. The first three batters reached base against Giants starting pitcher JT Brubaker. Max Muncy, one of the A\u2019s vying to start at third base, came up to bat with the bases loaded, no outs and a chance to do some damage. However, he grounded into a double play, foreshadowing things to come. With a run in, a runner on third and two outs, second baseman Andy Ib\u00e0\u00f1ez doubled to left field, bringing in the A\u2019s second and final run of the game.<\/p>\n
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Taking the mound with a two-run lead, A\u2019s starting pitcher J.T. Ginn turned in an impressive first spring training performance. He struck out the side in the first inning beginning with Luis Arraez, who is one of the hardest MLB players to strike out. Ginn proceeded to complete a clean second inning, this time inducing three groundouts.<\/p>\n
Given how well Ginn pitched in this two-inning stint, it might not be a bad idea for the A\u2019s to deploy him in this role out of the bullpen this season. However, he has also had success as a starting pitcher, which makes him one of the most interesting A\u2019s pitchers to watch this spring. More performances like that this spring and Ginn may very well be in the A\u2019s rotation to open the season.<\/p>\n
The third inning was where the game\u2019s momentum shifted. In the top of the inning, the A\u2019s had a chance to extend the lead. Unfortunately, Muncy was thrown out trying to go from second base to home on Darell Hernaiz\u2019s double to right field and then Henry Bolte grounded out with the bases loaded. In the bottom of that frame, the Giants broke through against A\u2019s top pitching prospect Gage Jump. San Francisco got three straight singles before Jump induced a double play grounder to escape a bases loaded jam and keep the A\u2019s ahead by one.<\/p>\n
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The following inning, the Giants tied it. Then, they proceeded to score once an inning from the fifth to the eighth off a mix of returning relievers like Elvis Alvarado and non-roster relievers. Meanwhile, the A\u2019s offense was shut down by multiple Giants minor league pitchers. Once the Giants took the lead, the A\u2019s did not come close to scoring again until the eighth inning. They got two baserunners with one out, only for the next two batters to not come through. The A\u2019s finished the game with ten hits, although only two were extra-base hits.<\/p>\n
Ginn\u2019s strong performance was the highlight of today\u2019s game as the A\u2019s need improvement from him and the other young pitchers if the team wants to return to playoff contention. Speaking of young pitchers, both Jump and fellow pitching prospect Braden Nett showed promise, even though they each allowed a run in their respective innings.<\/p>\n
The A\u2019s will try again tomorrow to get that elusive first spring training win vs the also winless Milwaukee Brewers. Mason Barnett, another of the team\u2019s young starting pitchers, will start with relievers Justin Sterner and Hogan Harris lined up to follow him. Will the team\u2019s offense shake off its rust tomorrow or will it be another low-scoring day for the A\u2019s?<\/p>\n
Notes:<\/p>\n
Nick Kurtz showcased his on-base ability today, drawing two walks as the A\u2019s leadoff hitter.<\/p>\n
Andy Ib\u00e0\u00f1ez had a good day as he drew a walk in addition to his double.<\/p>\n
Darell Hernaiz looks ready to play for Puerto Rico in the WBC. He got two hits and played a clean game at shortstop<\/p>\n
Polarizing prospect Henry Bolte struck out twice, further proof that his ability to make contact is still a concern.<\/p>\n
Max Muncy made a throwing error on a slow ground ball hit his way at third base. His defense was erratic last year. Is third base the best fit for him defensively?<\/p>\n
Infield prospect Joshua Kuroda-Grauer got two hits. His hitting ability is not in question, but will that be enough to get him to MLB at least in a utility role given his lack of power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletics continued their rough start to spring training, losing 6-2 to the San Francisco Giants. The A\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2391],"tags":[3806,537,5,37028,7634,71706,4813,2287,6616,85,43042,1532,59,4,3226,459,378,66,811,1949],"class_list":["post-589335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-athletics","tag-andy-ibanez","tag-athletics","tag-baseball","tag-darell-hernaiz","tag-elvis-alvarado","tag-henry-bolte","tag-hogan-harris","tag-jt-brubaker","tag-justin-sterner","tag-luis-arraez","tag-mason-barnett","tag-max-muncy","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-athletics","tag-nick-kurtz","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-starting-pitcher","tag-the-athletics"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116123247951089696","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589335","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=589335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}