The A’s have been hanging around the top of the AL West all season long, and have been blasting their way back to the top. With players like Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, Brandon Moss and Alberto Callaspo leading the way of late, they are poised to make a run for not only the division but maybe the American league Pennant.
By Dan Wanser (MLB Reports Writer) Follow @DanWanser
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The Oakland Athletics have been considered contenders to win the American League West the entire season, but now that the season is coming to an end they are blasting their way to the top in an attempt to overtake the Texas Rangers.
With key players doing their job offensively, Pitchers doing their job well and keeping the team in games, and a pretty easy schedule going down the stretch they have all the components to make a stretch run.
Oakland’s 2012-2013 season Highlights:
Brandon Moss has really heated up over the last 24 games, with 9 HRs and 20 RBI, while possessing an OPS of 1.111 in that time period. With Yoenis Cespedes having a sophomore slump, and Josh Reddick battling injuries and slumps, it has been Brandon Moss who has led the club in Round Trippers and overall power. The big 1B has 26 Big Flies on the season, with 71 RBI. All of these are career highs with 23 games left to play. While he is not clubbing to his 2012 OPS clip of .954, he is going to almost double his 84 Games Played of last campaign.
Coco Crisp is another one of the major reasons that Oakland is where they are right now.
Even though he is only hitting a mere .260, he is a clubhouse leader and has scored a team-leading 75 runs (in 111 GP) and also leads the team with 17 stolen bases.
Crisp has heated up some as the season is coming to an end as we enter the last month of the regular season.
In his last few games, the switch-hitting Center fielder is on a seven game hitting streak as he has 10 hits in those games.
Crisp has also given out 8 baseballs to fans beyond the fences in the last 14 games.
Coco Crisp has smashed 8 HRs since Aug.24, and has played a pivotal role on the A’s running off several series wins over the last few weeks. The team is also 67 – 44 with him in the lineup (.604) – and are 13 – 15 (.464) without.
Jed Lowrie has also helped Oakland get to where they are now.
This switch-hitting shortstop is hitting .333 in his last 10 games where he has a homer and 8 RBI’s to go with his 13 hits.
If Oakland is to succeed the rest of this season, they will need Lowrie to play the next month like he has in his last 10 games, especially if they have to play a one game winner-take-all Wild Card playoff.
The former Red Sox and Astro, and who was traded for in exchange for slugger Chris Carter, has a 3 Slash Line of .288/.346/.779, with 10 HRs, 41 Doubles, 149 HIts and 59 RBI.
The contributions Lowrie has provided thus far, completely have exceeded expectations, and he is a valued veteran leader in the clubhouse.
Alberto Callaspo has been an outstanding pickup for the Athletics as he has joined the team on a hot streak. If he continues to get on base as consistently as he has to this point, he will definitely be a big asset to the club.
Oakland made a very smart move in picking up the former LA Angel in Alberto Callaspo.
Callaspo has joined his new California team smoking hot as he has a .369 on-base percentage since joining his new club.
In his last 10 games, the second baseman has hit a solid .314 with 11 hits, 3 RBI’s and has shown some patience by taking a base-on-balls four different times.
Callaspo is also among the league leaders, as he has only Struckout 36 times in 383 AB (or 1 out of every 10.83 AB). This is a perfect contrast to a lot of his new teammates, who K a fair bit.
Despite its overall success, the Athletics offense isn’t the only thing that has kept it up near the top of the American League West Division, as the pitching has also been solid.
To this point in the season, Oakland has a total of four pitchers with at least 10 wins which shows that their starters are doing their jobs.
To go along with that, they also have 3 pitchers with an ERA under 4.00 which includes Bartolo Colon who’s Earned Run Average currently sits at 2.90
When Oakland has a lead after 8, they also have a guy who can finish off the game in Grant Balfour.
Balfour is among the best closers in the league right now as he has 36 saves in his 38 total opportunities.
Bartolo Colon has arguably been Oakland’s best pitcher this season. The husky hurler, leads his team with a total of 14 wins, and is also first in the category of ERA. When the A’s need a big win, Colon has been there guy up to this point.
To finish out the season, the A’s have a very generous schedule that should help them finish out the season on a high note.
Including today’s game against the Rangers, Oakland has 24 games remaining which all come against the Rangers, Astros, Twins, Mariners, and Angels.
This should help the A’s take some easier games against teams like the Mariners and Twins and could help seal the AL West division if they can win the remaining games against Texas.
If for one reason or another Oakland can’t win the division, they are nearly guaranteed one of the two Wild Card spots.
Even if that isn’t the most ideal situation since it’s a one game playoff, it still gets them to the postseason.
Oakland has now won 8 of their last 10 games. On a streak that ended recently, the team had homered in 15 straight games.
The A’s are also on trailing the Tigers for HRs since the ALL – Star Game by 1 (55 – 54), however they have done this in 156 less AB. This is how they were able to finish the year on a 72 – 37 clip in 2012, and they are doing it again.
It would take a major collapse for them not to make the playoffs considering their easier schedule here down the stretch.
With the core talent in the A’s organization, they can potentially go far in the playoffs especially if they take the division.
If the last 10 games is showing how the next month or so will go, I can see the A’s playing for a while, and potentially for the World Series Title.
The Oakland Athletics did some celebrating at the end of last season, and this year, I think they will be doing a lot more as we approach the end of the regular season and then beyond that into the postseason race in October. Heading into play today, they are in a dead heat with the Rangers at 80 – 59, both 4.5 Games above the Playoff Bar.
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A big thank-you goes out to Our writer Dan Wanser for preparing today’s featured article. Dan is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports. He is a Junior at Pottsville High School in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Dan is a huge fan of Chase Utley and Cliff Lee. He has been a baseball fan his whole life and loves writing about baseball.
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Tagged: AL West, alberto callaspo, American league, american league west, bartolo colon, coco crisp, grant balfour, houston astros, jed lowrie, la angels, mariners, minnesota twins, new york yankees, oakland athletics, october, playoffs, postseason, Remaining Schedule, seattle mariners, texas rangers, wild card, Wild Card Standings, world series, yoenis cespedes
