A’s Swept Away, Fall Further Behind Texas

The A’s were swept away by the Minnesota Twins, despite the fact that Oakland’s starting rotation has been on fire as of late. With the loss on Sunday, the A’s fell to 10.0 games back of the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West. The A’s pitching ranks 5th in the majors with a team ERA of 3.60 (1st in the AL). But despite their strong pitching, the A’s offense has been rather inconsistent as of late; despite having their top-power prospect, Chris Carter, on the big league roster.

Carter, who hit 27 homers with Triple-A Sacramento this season, is still searching for his first big-league hit (0-for-19). With the A’s looking like they’re still a year or two away from becoming perennial playoff contenders again, Carter should still see some time in LF. The A’s know Carter is a slow starter—as was the case this season in Triple-A—and also know that he’s a legitimate power threat. As a whole, however, the A’s offense is nothing to really brag about. As a team, the A’s are hitting .259 (17th in majors), and rank 29th in the majors with just 70 team home runs.

If the team hopes to finish above .500 for the first time since 2006, they’ll need to get more production out of their offense. The A’s have the pitching, but it’s the offense that the team lacks. Next month, the A’s could give another top-prospect, Michael Taylor, a chance in the big-leagues. Taylor and Carter figure to be the A’s top hitting prospects, who should play key roles in the coming years. Taylor is currently batting .264/.341/.386 with 5 homers and 64 RBIs.