Will the Oakland Athletics Competition Bear Fruit in the Regular Season?
By Jason Burke
It was reported on MLB.com by William Boor that the Oakland Athletics held a friendly competition on Friday to see which group of players were better with their situational hitting. The groups were Craig Gentry, Josh Reddick, Mark Canha, Billy Butler and Sam Fuld against Ben Zobrist, Ike Davis, Brett Lawrie, Marcus Semien and Jason Pridie. The team of Reddick, Gentry and others bested their competition, although Ike Davis turned in a perfect score, and Melvin listed Zobrist as a player that stood out.
According to Bob Melvin, the competition was put in place for a number of reasons, “It’s always a lot of fun and it serves a purpose,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve struggled in situational at-bats, last year with runners on and less than two outs, infield back where there’s less than two outs. Lot of things to prepare for and get better at. Not only that, it’s good fun.”
Boor states that the Oakland Athletics as a team hit .241 with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. This is something the team will definitely need to improve upon with their offense now seemingly lacking firepower.
Looking at the team’s stats from a year ago with runners on, and less than two outs, many of the players that ranked near the bottom of the list are now gone, so we could see an improvement with players like Davis and Zobrist now in the fold. Jed Lowrie (.212), Jonny Gomes (.217), Alberto Callaspo (.235), John Jaso (.241), Brandon Moss (.243), Geovany Soto (.250), Yoenis Cespedes (.291), Josh Donaldson (.299) and Derek Norris (.330) have departed in one form or another, and the players that are left from last year were all at or above last year’s mark, aside from Nate Freiman at .217.
Billy Butler (.286), Ben Zobrist (.225), Ike Davis (.247) and Marcus Semien (.333) will look to lead the charge in improving this sore spot for the team last season. If the Oakland Athletics can hit around .250 in these situations, the team should benefit. While a jump from .241 to .250 isn’t a large one, it could bridge the gap to last year’s club when coupled with the improved defense that some of the newcomers bring to the table, effectively negating the offensive drop-off that we’re expecting.
Next: The A's 3 Best and Worst Investments