Elephant Rumblings: First win of the year

MLB news roundup

Happy Tuesday, Athletics Nation!

Well it took a couple games but the bats finally woke up yesterday. And in a big way as the Athletics pounded out ten hits and nine runs against the Diamondbacks, more than both first two games combined. It hasn’t been an impressive start to spring from the offense but getting that first spring win out of the way is always nice. Especially when it’s a high-scoring 1-run game like today. And even more when it’s a walkoff home run . Even with yesterday’s hit barrage though, the club is still batting only .200/.294/.322 with just three home runs in three games. Add in just one stolen base and it’s been a slow start to the spring from the club to say the least.

Just because it’s been a slow start doesn’t give reason to panic about a repeat of last season though. Many of the expected regulars during the season have only had about a single regular season’s game worth of at-bats. We still don’t know who the guy at third base is going to be. Aledmys Diaz, Abraham Toro and Jordan Diaz are the presumed leaders for that spot and none of them have really gotten a head start with a quick beginning to spring. It’s just the beginning of a spring-long battle but you’d like to see someone hungry for that spot.

It’s been a rough start from the pitching side as well. They’ve given up a total of 17 runs in the first three games. A decent number of those runs have been yielded by guys not expected to make the final roster but a bunch of the pitchers expected to pitch at some point for the big league club have given up runs as well. The roughest was yesterday seeing Adrian Martinez yield four runs in just one inning of work. It’s probably safe to say he’s already fallen very behind a lot of the other competition already, even before a lot of his competitors have taken the mound.

While not great, it’s a lot less concerning because a lot of these guys are using these early games to test out new pitches or changes to their arsenal. Seeing someone like Kyle Muller or Mitch Spence yield a run in two frames isnt at all concerning, especially if they’re toying around with their pitches right now. And besides, we haven’t even seen a bunch of the guys yet, including the top four starters in the expected Opening Day rotation. That’ll change today when JP Sears, Oakland’s most reliable starter last year, gets his feet wet and starts today’s game against the Guardians. Let’s hope this is the beginning of an even better sophomore season.

A’s Coverage:

• Brodie’s five takeaways from ‘‘different” A’s spring training
• A’s remove “Rooted in Oakland since ‘68” sign at Coliseum
• A’s move to Las Vegas hits more hurdles as Nevada State Education Association tries to block finding
• Spence makes first bid at Opening Day roster spot

MLB News & Interest:

• Twins acquire Manuel Margot from Dodgers
• Dodgers sign Kike Hernandez to 1-year deal
• Shortstop Brandon Crawford to sign with Cardinals on 1-year deal
• Giants sign shortstop Nick Ahmed to minors deal
• Reliever Matt Barnes progressing towards deal with Nationals
• Dodgers hire Matt Kemp in advisory role
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

It was always inevitable:

Dark horse candidate for a roster spot?

In case you missed yesterday’s first win of spring training: