Oakland Athletics Suffer Tough Loss As Bullpen Falters

The Oakland Athletics’ ninth-inning loss at Safeco against the Seattle Mariners brings questions about the A’s bullpen into focus.

It might have been unrealistic to expect the Oakland Athletics to go undefeated at Safeco Field this year. They did win four in a row there, and it looked like the A’s would make it five straight when they entered the ninth with a 5-4 lead. But Leonys Martin hit a walk off home run against Ryan Madson, and the A’s dropped the game 6-5.

It was a disappointing loss, but it is still just a loss in May. There were a lot of reasons why the A’s lost Tuesday night’s game. The bullpen has a lot of potential, but it is not automatic. John Axford has been incredibly inefficient lately. He blew a game against the Yankees, and he blew two runs off the A’s lead in the eighth. Sean Doolittle, on the other hand, worked a perfect seventh inning. Ryan Dull and Daniel Coulombe were spectacular.

Madson got tagged with the loss and his second blown save of the year, but the Mariners did most of the damage against Axford. A one-run save is always difficult.

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This is my theory, and feel free to disagree: I know it worked for Kansas City last year, but I do not really care for this “three-headed bullpen” experiment. The idea is that the starter gets the team through six and then it’s Doolittle, Axford and Madson. Maybe that formula will work eventually. I can not think of a game where all three had clean innings to lead the A’s to a win.

One thing former pitchers always talk about when judging a young pitcher is “How does he do when he doesn’t have his good stuff? Anyone can win when their stuff is working, but what about those other days?” Apparently, a starting pitcher might have all of his pitches working about half the time. What if the same thing is true for the bullpen pitchers?

If Bob Melvin is going to try to copy the formula of the Yankees and the Royals and other teams that want to “shorten the game,” then he will have to hope that none of his “big three” go to the mound without their good stuff. Actually, the odds are very good that at least one of his key relievers will be standing on the mound knowing that their curve, slider or change-up is just not working. That’s why I am not a real big fan of the “three-headed” bullpen.

Prior to the eighth, the game was going pretty well for the A’s. A’s fans know that with Josh Reddick out for the next six weeks, other players will need to step up. Coco Crisp came through in a big way with a home run and a two-run double. Stephen Vogt and Marcus Semien also got key hits.

He might not have taken the loss, but Kendall Graveman was not very good in Tuesday night’s game. I say it might be time to bring Barry Zito back to the Athletics. Not as a pitcher, but as a coach. Graveman was demoted last year, and he spent some time in Triple-A, figuring things out by talking with Zito. When he came back to the Majors, he was a much better pitcher. Graveman has been a disaster this year. He is carrying a 1.60 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched.). According to Fangraphs, that is “awful.” Graveman’s era is 5.36. I believe Graveman is in danger of being demoted again.

In terms of the offense, the cavalry is coming. The A’s are going to get Jed Lowrie and Josh Phegley back very soon. Zach Neal is getting a spot start in Wednesday’s finale at Safeco. Hopefully, he will last more than 4.1 innings.

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If Neal pitches well, Melvin might shake up the rotation. Melvin might also want to revamp the bullpen. Ryan Dull is looking mighty sharp these days.