Oakland Athletics: 2016 Roster Not Typical A’s Team

The Oakland Athletics had a good weekend: they took two of three from the Houston Astros, and they had a pretty good chance for a sweep.

Friday night, Yonder Alonso got his first pie in the face when he hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to help the A’s win in a walk off. Saturday, Jesse Hahn made a triumphant return to the Coliseum, and the A’s tossed their first shutout of the year.

Sunday, however, the A’s hit some bad luck. Jose Altuve drove the third pitch of the game over the wall to give the Astros a one-run lead, and the A’s never quite caught up. In the bottom of the third, Jed Lowrie drove a ball to center that almost…almost got over the wall. Instead of a home run, Lowrie settled for a double and the A’s were unable to bring him around.

The A’s hit the ball hard all day on Sunday, and they did not have much to show for it, but Oakland Athletics fans should not get too upset. After dropping five out of six on the road, it was good for the A’s to come back to the Coliseum and get some wins.

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I spent the weekend re-reading the book Moneyball, by Michael Lewis, because I’m going to lecture on it Monday night. (If you have only seen the movie, all I can say is read the book!)

While reading, I could not help but be struck by the differences and the similarities between this Oakland A’s team and the team from 2002. One of the biggest similarities included having a young, dynamic pitching staff under club control for the next few years.

I don’t know if today’s Athletics have a Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson or Barry Zito, but they do have Sonny Gray, Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, and Jesse Hahn. From time to time, I can also see a similarity between Miguel Tejada and Marcus Semien. The power is similar, though the consistency is not. This year’s bullpen has the potential to be better than the 2002 version. We will see. 

What really struck me more than the similarities to 2002 were the differences compared to this year’s A’s team. Billy Burns, when he hits leadoff, almost invariably swings at the first or second pitch. He is not the only hitter who swings early in the count.

I also pay attention to pitch counts. The Athletics’ starters have very high pitch counts after just a couple innings, while the opposing starter rarely throws more than 100 pitches in a game. Currently the Oakland Athletics rank 20th in team batting average, 28th in walks and dead last in on-base percentage.

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Looking at those numbers, it is clear that this is not a typical Billy Beane team. And if there was any doubt, Mark Canha laid down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night. This team is definitely different from A’s teams in the past.

I’m not saying it’s good; I’m not saying it’s bad. I’m just saying…this Oakland Athletics team is kind of different.