2. Oakland A’s
Oakland will be the biggest threat to the Astros, but you wouldn’t know it from opening weekend.
The A’s suffered a four game sweep to the Astros. As bad as that is, it’s not so much that it happened as it is how it happened. Oakland looked lost just about everywhere on the diamond. Over the four game series, Oakland was outscored 37-9 and yet somehow that doesn’t do justice about how bad this series truly was.
Houston didn’t miss a beat without George Springer and the trio of Jose Altuve, Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman combined to go 19-44 with three home runs and nine RBI’s.
Oakland never once led during the series.
The Athletics’ bullpen was torched all weekend giving up 16 runs, with Reymin Gaudun doing the most damage giving up seven runs across two games. He pitched in the 9th both games, and game up three and four runs in his appearances.
Things aren’t good when you look at the hitting. Elvis Andrus went 1-14. Matt Chapman was 1-11. The team combined to strike out 37 times.
It’s hard to imagine the A’s will catch fire immediately. They’re going to need a lot of help, especially in the bullpen. Oakland better hope guys like Andrus and Chapman turn it around quickly, because they’re going to be needed to win some slugfests early in the year while the pitching is figured out.
Can you imagine how bad the series would have been if the Astros brought their garbage cans?