State of the Team for September 1, 2009

So I missed a day for updating this thing, who cares? Anyway, I attended the game Monday and I'm pretty sure about 15 other people made up the entirety of that games attendance. Unfortunately I was too inebriated to remember the highlights from the game, although I do remember some lowlights, like Gio giving up three runs in the first. With that said, I watched the highlights on MLB.com and I must say, when Rajai singled in two in the third and took second on the throw, I was impressed...but the play wasn't over, when the throw skipped passed Miguel Olivo, Luke Hochevar retrieved it near the A's on-deck circle, only to have his head down as he walked back to the mound...Rajai took note, and ran to third...Now that was amazing. Rajai has continued to impress me, and every time I think his hot streak's about to end, he just keeps it going. He's 6th in the AL in batting average since the break, as well as 1st in stolen bases over that same period of time.

Tonight was a slightly different story for the A's. Rajai hit a home run in the first and Edgar Gonzalez was effective but Jay Marshall came out of the pen to surrender two runs and take the loss. The sad part about this was wasting an effective outing from Edgar Gonzalez. 2 out of every 3 times Edgar Gonzalez goes 4 or more innings, it seems like he loses it at some point. That's not terribly disturbing in a mop-up role, but when you hear Edgar Gonzalez is starting, it doesn't make for the most appealing pitching match up. But when he can go 5+ and give up 1 run, you've got to take advantage of it, because that's not going to happen too often.

What's also terribly frustrating is the fact the A's left 23 runners on base. TWENTY THREE. I really hate the LOB stat, even if it's high for the other team. If it's a high amount (like 10 or more) for the team you root for, that just tells you how un-clutch your hitters were, and almost teases you saying "well this is how many runs you could have scored...but you didn't." On the other hand, when it says that about the other team, it goes to show you how much worse your pitchers may have been. A solid outing by a solid pitcher leaves few runners on, whereas a guy on thin ice will have to work in and out of trouble the entire time. It's probably more frustrating if you're following the development of a young pitcher, and you want to see how efficient they may or may not be.

One more thing: the A's called up Jerry Blevins, Dana Eveland, and Brad Kilby, all lefties to shelve into the pen. I'm assuming this is related in part to giving Anderson, Cahill, and Mazzaro less innings. Not a whole lot to be excited about in the call ups. Everyone knows Eveland and Blevins, but I am a little excited to see how Brad Kilby does after being a solid Triple A pitcher over the passed two seasons. It's tough to evaluate relievers when their September call ups, but I suppose you could say that about any position. Oh and by the way, Chris Carter hit 3 homers for the Riverkitties last night while Tommy Everidge hit 1 last night, and 2 today.

Everyone knows Chris Carter, but despite being called up for a brief time, there's still little talk about Tommy Everidge, who's hitting .340/.406/.567 with 20 dingers and 94 RBI combined between Midland and Sacramento

Still have my big article to follow soon, probably won't be until this weekend...Comments?