Through 2011, none of Beane’s teams had pitched below a 3.50 ERA over the course of the season. In 2012, the A’s were able to get down to a 3.48 ERA. This was perhaps the most unnoticed statistic during the A’s dash to top the AL West. It was certainly one of the most surprising.

Last offseason the team traded away Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzales and Andrew Bailey for several prospects. They were each major contributors and effective during their years in Green and Gold. In 2011 Cahill and Gonzales each pitched more than 200 innings. Cahill was an All-Star in 2010, and Gonzalez was an All-Star in 2011. Bailey was also a 2 time All-Star and had 75 saves from 2009 – 2011. Their departures meant that the A’s were likely gearing up for a division run…in 2015.

Yet in 2012 the A’s had to overcome additional pitching issues aside from the departure of the above-mentioned pitchers. To name a few:

Veteran Brian Fuentes was released early in the year after performing poorly.

Grant Balfour struggled early as the closer.

A resurgent Bartolo Colon was suspended during the most crucial stretch of the season.

Respected leader Brandon McCarthy was injured and needed brain surgery shortly after Colon’s loss. He, too, was done for the year.

Their lone All-Star, Ryan Cook, struggled after the break and lost his closer gig.

Brett Anderson missed most of the year, started 6 games, and missed the remaining part of the regular season with injury.

Sean Doolittle was a first baseman just a couple of years ago.

Tyson Ross was not the answer to anything as evidenced by his 6.50 ERA over 18 games. He has since been traded to the Padres.

Dallas Braden, he of the Perfect Game in 2010 and A-Rod’s best friend (just kidding), didn’t even pitch in 2012 due to injury.

Lastly, veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki was traded during the season leaving youthful Derek Norris and backup George Kottaras to call the games.

So who stepped up? Well, everyone did. Last season’s 3.48 ERA included the collective efforts of 25 starters and relievers who pitched 1,470 innings.

July 17, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (21) returns to the dugout after retiring the Texas Rangers during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

The core starting rookies were Tommy Milone, Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin along with Dan Straily. To their credit, they all had sub-3.90 ERA’s and all of them had winning records at the end of the season. McCarthy had a 3.24 ERA in 18 starts and Colon had 3.43 ERA in 24 starts. Travis Blackey also started 15 games and chipped in 6 wins with a 3.86 ERA. This was an effective balance of youthful and veteran starters.

While the starters were solid, the top 5 relievers were brilliant. Grant Balfour, Ryan Cook, Jerry Blevins, Jordan Noberto and Jim Miller all had ERA’s of 2.77 or below.

Behind the plate, Norris and Kottaras were calling good games down the stretch as well. However, their contributions to the team’s pitching success may have been overlooked due their offensive shortcomings.

The coaching staff deserves a ton of credit also. Curt Young, the A’s pitching coach, and Rick Rodriguez, the A’s bullpen coach cannot be appreciated enough. Bob Melvin, along with Young and Rodriguez, remained steady despite having to deal with the injuries, suspensions and youth. Young will return in 2013. Rodriguez, a Bob Geren-era holdover, will depart but may remain in the organization in a minor league role. Darren Bush, manager of the A’s AAA affiliate Sacramento River Cats, will take over for Rodriguez.

September 20, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Oakland Athletics pitching coach Curt Young (41) during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Back in Spring Training it was certainly hard to imagine that 2012 would wind up the way it did. Good pitching had much to do with the team’s success. Hopefully the pitching staff returns and the success will carry on in 2013 as well.

Of course, with Beane at the helm anything is possible. He traded his last 3 All-Star pitchers for prospects, and yet the squad delivered the best team ERA in his tenure.

I know what Beane and Lew Wolff might be scheming now….Hey Giants, we’ll give you any one of our pitchers plus Daric Barton for stadium rights in San Jose. Deal?

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

The pitching staff ranked among the best in the American League in all major statistical categories.  That did not matter.  Oakland’s dead beat offense ranked last among fellow American League teams during April and May in runs scored, runs batted in, hits, and batting average.  As much as we would all like to forget, the Athletics ended the month of May by losing their last 8 games and losing the first game in June to complete a 9 game losing skid.  Then before the second game of June, Grant Balfour erupted in the clubhouse telling his teammates “I am tired of losing.”  They must have listened. Oakland would go on to unleash the fury of their offense and abolish the Kansas City Royals 9-3.

The month of June was a completely different story.  Oakland’s offense found life.  Finally, the A’s trustworthy pitching staff that has pitched far beyond expectations, now had an offense to back them up.

The beginning of June was nothing easy for the Athletics.  Despite taking three of four games at home from the Texas Rangers, the A’s struggled to find ways to win against the Kansas City Royals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In a desperation move to find some offense at first base, the A’s recalled Brandon Moss and designated Kila Ka’aihue for assignment.  Brandon Moss not only jump-started Oakland’s offense but he miraculously resurrected his career.  Moss—who hit 7 home runs in June— sparked the teams sweep of the Colorado Rockies at Coors field with the help of Seth Smith, who the A’s acquired from the Rockies via trade this past off-season and ended June hitting .296 with 12 extra base hits.  Smith and Moss both helped lead the Athletics to win five of their next six games which included a sweep at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The A’s went on to lose two of the three 9^th inning nail biters against their cross bay rivals the San Francisco Giants, salvaging the last game in walk off style.  On a road trip to Seattle the A’s managed to sliver off enough hits to win the three game series against the Mariners—thanks to the help of Seth Smith and Yoenis Cespedes, who hit .343 with 4 home runs in June.  Astonishingly, the Oakland offense blossomed in June and lead the American League in “money ball’s” favorite statistic, walks, with 103, ranked 4th in extra base hits (88), 6th in runs scored (133), 5^th in doubles (47), 3^rd in home runs (34), and 6^th in runs batted in (125).

DownSide: The offense has done enough to win in July but still find themselves at the bottom of the list in most offensive categories.  They are the second worst team in home runs (22), runs batted in (21), and have the 4^th worst batting average (.235).

UpSide: After the all-star break the A’s are promisingly within striking distance of the second wild card spot, only 2.5 games back.  They are currently sitting at .500 with a 43-43 record, and are 6-1 through the first week of July.  The pitching staff has started July putting up astronomical numbers.  They rank first in the American League with a 1.57 ERA, a WHIP of 0.91, they have given up the least amount of free passes with only 14 walks, they are tied for first with opponents only hitting .197 against them, while only giving up three home runs, which they rank first in also.  An offensive upside is that they are getting clutch hits from players coming off the bench and are tied for 3^rd with 11 pinch-hit hits.  Last but not least, the A’s also lead the majors with 8 walk off hits.

As you can see, the upside for the A’s is much larger than the downside.  The A’s also started off the month of June slow before launching into one of the best offensive teams in the American League, so there is no reason to think they can’t do it again.  They have been one of the most exciting teams in baseball and who knows what kind of excitement will be in store in the second half. Go A’s!

The A's didn't do much to make me smile during the month of May. Photo Credit: Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

What a month that was, right? The A’s closed out the month of May with an eight game losing streak. Way to finish the month strong, guys. It was definitely a trying month for many A’s fans to say the least, but I did manage to find a few reasons to smile in May. For one, there are a few players who caught my attention this month that I enjoyed watching despite seeing the A’s free fall all the way from second-place to last-place during their miserable month of May.

Oakland’s offense was downright offensive, scoring just 12 runs over their final eight games of May. That was not impressive to say the least and seriously served as a reminder of how awful the A’s offense truly is. The A’s offense isn’t built to score runs, I guess. Heck, I’m not sure what it’s built to do.

Still, I’m supposed to write about the few reasons why I ended up smiling about the team in May, right? Not an easy task by any measure, but here it goes:

• Josh Reddick: The A’s have scored big time with this guy. Reddick, who was brought over in the trade that sent Andrew Bailey to the Boston Red Sox last winter, has been an absolute pleasure to watch and root for. He currently leads the team with 14 HR and 27 RBI and has provided the only real spark on offense this year. He currently owns a .266/.333/.547 slash line in addition to a .281 ISO and 143 wRC+ this year. He’s been a huge part of Oakland’s offense; without Reddick, the A’s would have scored three fewer runs during their eight game skid. He’s got All-Star written all over him.
• Jarrod Parker: The A’s seem to have a pretty good understanding of how to find quality pitchers. The A’s seemingly always put together a nice, young, and inexpensive core of young talented pitchers each year and Jarrod Parker is no exception. Parker, who was acquired in the deal that sent Trevor Cahill over to Arizona this past winter, has pitched like a top prospect. The A’s should be happy with the numbers Parker has posted so far in his stint with the big league club. He’s currently 1-2 with a nifty 2.88 ERA over 40.2 innings of work. He didn’t enjoy a successful spring and didn’t break with the big league club in March, but he’s here now and he’s a reason why I smiled a little bit during May.
• Ryan Cook: While his scoreless inning streak stopped at 23.1 innings during the A’s eight game skid, Cook’s streak definitely had me smiling during the month of May.
• The Welcoming of Brandon Inge: This move wasn’t earth shattering news, but the A’s needed some help over at third base. Oakland’s decision to sign Inge after he was released by Detroit had me smiling all day and night, especially when he had that walk-off grand-slam back on May 8th, my 21st birthday no less.
• Tom Milone: I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, I’m a big fan of Milone. The A’s have done a solid job this year putting together a group of young pitchers who could end up as reliable major league starters one day. Milone, Parker, Brad Peacock, Sonny Gray, A.J. Cole, and a few others have caught my attention, but Milone, who leads the team in wins with 6, is currently my favorite.

I won’t mention what didn’t make me smile this month, because this post would definitely go on for a long time. Instead, I encourage all of you to list some of the things that impressed and/or bothered you about the team during the month of May. Also be sure to…

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