The 'Moneyball 2.0' Oakland A's Have Adopted This New Strategy of Not Losing And It's Genius
The Oakland A’s have turned into a goddamn wagon. They are a train that keeps on moving, full speed ahead. There is magic at the Coliseum these days and no one seems to have a spell to stop it. When you look at the Oakland A’s roster it’s difficult to figure out how they keep winning ball games, and yet they do it. Their rotation is nothing to write home about, led by their only double-digit winner Sean Manea. After Manea you’re looking at guys who you probably didn’t know were still in baseball: Edwin Jackson, Trevor Cahill, and Brett Anderson. They also have newly acquired Mike Fiers to round out the rotation. It’s a whacky five, but it’s doing the job right now no doubt about it. You look at their lineup and you don’t know if they can scrape across four runs each night with guys like Jed Lowrie, Khris Davis, Matt Chapman, Lucroy, and Piscotty. Yet, they do it every night. The part of their team that is impenetrable is their bullpen which is, in my opinion, the best in Major League Baseball. The Yankees get a lot of talk about their “super-bullpen” but when a brainless idiot is managing the team, what good is that? The A’s ‘Big Three’ of Trivino, Familia, and Trienen is as good as it gets. They don’t give up runs and they don’t lose baseball games.
On June 24th the A’s were 40-38 while Astros were 52-27 on the same date. Since that day, the Astros have been mangled with inconsistent pitching and countless injuries to their offense. The A’s have become a force and acquired magic from a wizard to catapult their record to 73-49. Last night the two AL West teams squared off in Oakland in a huge test for the A’s. They got a little bit of home-cookin’ to help them, but the Athletics came away one game back of the Stros for 1st place in the West.
The way to beat Houston is to get past their starting pitching. Their bullpen is weak and can only hold you for so long. When you get into a pissing match with the A’s for who will crack first, you’re not going to win. In the 9th inning, trailing by one, Nick Martini ripped a one out double to right field. Rookie Ramon Laureano sprinted from first to try and score. He was originally called out, but replay had him safe. You be the judge.
I mean….he was kinda out. At minimum there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the call, but at home with a playoff crowd rocking, it’s more fun to call him safe there. Sucks to suck for Houston. An inning later, Matt Olson said good night.
One game back of first place. That’s fucking wild. It’s goddamn terrifying for the Yankees. There is a real scenario where Justin Verlander and a very healthy Astros team comes to The Bronx for a one game wild card playoff. Nightmare fuel. It doesn’t get a whole lot easier if this Oakland team is the squad to roll through The Bronx, but Houston just won the World Series and has Justin Verlander so I’m inclined to fear them more. Fuck.
We’re pretty much all living through the Moneyball sequel. The A’s still don’t have money yet they’re winning as many games as everyone else. Billy Fucking Beane.
