4-22-2006: vs Angels - WRAP
I didn't get a chance to post on the game yesterday because my parents were over to see their grandson and they did not leave until late last night.
The A's lost today in a close game, 5 to 4. But the 4 runs the A's scored were all due to a grand slam HR by Swisher (stay hot Swish) so were it not for the HR, possibly the score could have been 5-0.
Still, the A's did the right thing in the 9th, bringing in Frank Thomas as a pinch hitter who promptly got on base, bringing in Crosby as a pinch runner, and then leaving it up to......Dan Johnson ?!?!?!
Ok, that I just do not understand. On a good night, Johnson finally had a game with some hits, going 3 for 3 prior to the 9th inning. It's nice to see Johnson finally hitting. But you don't allow a struggling hitter who just had a decent game come in to save the day in the bottom of the 9th, especially if your argument was "he was having a good day.....".
And when is Macha going to learn to stop batting Ellis in the leadoff spot? 0 for 4 with a strikeout and a 0.175 BA is not the resume of a leadoff hitter. I have every confidence Ellis is going to pick things up, but until he does you leave him out of the leadoff spot. Hell, at this point I would feel more comfortable with Kendall back in the leadoff spot. At least you have chance of getting him on base.
Overall, offensively, this team just isn't cutting it. I know it's April, but April will be gone in a week, meaning it has been nearly a month and the batters are still not "warmed up". At least Chavez is having a career April and Swisher is hotter than a 26k run through Death Valley. Bradley overall is doing pretty good, although he has slumped lately, but other than these 3 I can not find much I like about the A's offense.
And don't get me started about the A's starting pitching. Aside from Rich Harden, not a single A's starter has an ERA below 5.00. In fact, only 3 out of 5 have an ERA below 6.00! The only silver lining to that is that at least Zito and Haren have a low WHIP of 1.13 each and respectable K/9 of 7.59 and 6.91 respectively, so I am crossing my fingers and hoping that they will slowly improve, as they have been doing.
The A's lost today in a close game, 5 to 4. But the 4 runs the A's scored were all due to a grand slam HR by Swisher (stay hot Swish) so were it not for the HR, possibly the score could have been 5-0.
Still, the A's did the right thing in the 9th, bringing in Frank Thomas as a pinch hitter who promptly got on base, bringing in Crosby as a pinch runner, and then leaving it up to......Dan Johnson ?!?!?!
Ok, that I just do not understand. On a good night, Johnson finally had a game with some hits, going 3 for 3 prior to the 9th inning. It's nice to see Johnson finally hitting. But you don't allow a struggling hitter who just had a decent game come in to save the day in the bottom of the 9th, especially if your argument was "he was having a good day.....".
And when is Macha going to learn to stop batting Ellis in the leadoff spot? 0 for 4 with a strikeout and a 0.175 BA is not the resume of a leadoff hitter. I have every confidence Ellis is going to pick things up, but until he does you leave him out of the leadoff spot. Hell, at this point I would feel more comfortable with Kendall back in the leadoff spot. At least you have chance of getting him on base.
Overall, offensively, this team just isn't cutting it. I know it's April, but April will be gone in a week, meaning it has been nearly a month and the batters are still not "warmed up". At least Chavez is having a career April and Swisher is hotter than a 26k run through Death Valley. Bradley overall is doing pretty good, although he has slumped lately, but other than these 3 I can not find much I like about the A's offense.
And don't get me started about the A's starting pitching. Aside from Rich Harden, not a single A's starter has an ERA below 5.00. In fact, only 3 out of 5 have an ERA below 6.00! The only silver lining to that is that at least Zito and Haren have a low WHIP of 1.13 each and respectable K/9 of 7.59 and 6.91 respectively, so I am crossing my fingers and hoping that they will slowly improve, as they have been doing.
posted by The Smithy at 12:37 PM
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