Oakland Athletics Play Just Well Enough to Win

I am willing to admit it: in the first inning of Saturday’s Oakland Athletics game, I had a bad feeling.

Alcides Escobar led off the game with a single, just off the tip of Jed Lowrie‘s glove. He stole second without a throw and came around to score on Lorenzo Cain‘s single. In the space of three batters, the Oakland Athletics were losing again. Then Billy Burns led off the bottom of the first inning with a clean single and he stole second. He had the bag clean, but… Marcus Semien had called a timeout, and Burns had to go back to first. At that point, I was thinking, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, the A’s would have no luck at all.”

Then Semien worked a walk, and Josh Reddick blasted a three-run home run. All was right in the world. Just as the ball was flying over the fence, the Golden State Warriors were building an insurmountable lead against the Houston Rockets. It was a good day in Oaktown. (However, I must say that the national media seemed to think that the (R)Oracle Arena is somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge. That bothered me almost as much as Patrick Beverly’s antics guarding Steph Curry.)

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Lowrie had another tough day. He was 1-for-4 at the plate with a couple of errors. Fortunately, Lowrie’s play did not cost the A’s the game, but it did cost Sonny Gray a few extra pitches in the fifth. On the plus side, Yonder Alonso was able to start a sweet 3-6-1 double play. Lowrie now has almost as many errors (five) as RBIs (seven), and A’s fans are getting a little restless. A’s fans just learned that one of their favorites, Eric Sogard, is going under the knife to remove bone chips from his knee, so it appears that Lowrie is going to be the A’s second baseman for the foreseeable future.

Here’s why I’m okay with Lowrie at second:

First off, Lowrie will eventually have way more home runs and RBIs than errors… (well, way more RBIs, at least.) Second base is a relatively new position for Lowrie – he’s played 69 total games at second, compared to 508 at shortstop and 130 at third base – and he is still learning the footwork and other intricacies of the position. I have great faith in Ron Washington‘s teaching ability. Semien was a disaster in the field at shortstop last year. This year, after working with Washington, he is looking so much better. Even though his fielding is far from flawless, Semien is playing with a world of confidence.

Secondly, if at the end of the year, the A’s biggest problem is fielding at second base, this is going to be a very good year.

Next: Thursday Throwback: A's Reliever Billy Taylor

Finally, whether they should be or not, the A’s are a low-budget team. I would love for the Athletics to have nine players who win Gold Gloves while hitting .300 with 30 home runs and a 100 RBIs. However, the A’s have one: his name is Josh Reddick, and the A’s should sign him to a long contract. Meanwhile, we have a great-fielding first baseman with little power, an error-prone second baseman who can drive the ball to gaps, an emerging shortstop who strikes out way too often, and a third baseman who was cut by the Toronto Blue Jays. I think the A’s can work with this…