These past 4 days we have learned much about our A’s, some things we already knew and some we didn’t. For example, we have learned that they can actually win games — something that was becoming less clear as winable game after winable game turned to tragic loss until the losing streak hit 9.
But these A’s of the past 96 hours are 3-1 even against two teams currently positioned to reach the post-season. What else have we learned in these precious <100 hours of A’s baseball...?
Kotsay Doesn’t Know Who His Best Relievers Are
Two games in a row now, Kotsay has had a group of relievers to choose from and has selected poorly. Once it was costly and once he was bailed out by Shea Langeliers.
On Thursday, it appears perhaps Lucas Erceg was not available as he got up mid-game but then was never summoned even as the A’s tied the game in the 7th. Mason Miller was strictly unavailable having worked the previous 2 nights.
So at Kotsay’s disposal were Vinny Nittoli, who worked the 7th with the A’s trailing 2-0, Dany Jimenez, and “Every Day TJ” McFarland. With the heart of the order due up (Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, Salvador Perez) it made sense to go either with McFarland, who would have faced R/L/R/L and who keeps the ball in the park, or Jimenez, who has been mostly very effective of late save for one flat slider to Jose Miranda in Minnesota.
Once Gelof’s 2-run HR tied the game the only choice that made no sense at all was to stick with Nittoli, a journeyman reliever only in because the team was trailing, to face the group of accomplished power hitters coming up.
Jimenez is far from perfect but he has been throwing 93= MPH and when he does that he is very good with his slider playing up. And when Miller and/or Erceg is not available he is now 3rd in line as an acceptable high leverage option. McFarland is steady as they go and warrants high leverage work in small but frequent doses.
Selecting Nittoli was a “manager fail” that immediately cost the A’s when Witt Jr. launched a decisive HR that should have surprised no one.
Then Friday night, with the A’s leading 4-2 in the 7th Kotsay had more options for the final 3 innings: Erceg and Miller were both available, as were Austin Adams, Jimenez, and all 3 LH relievers.
The mistake Kotsay made was in thinking Adams is one of his better relievers, a worthy set up man for the set up men. In reality, while Jimenez has been throwing the ball better of late Adams has been moving in the opposite direction for quite some time.
Adams put together a nice April in his 9.1 IP, allowing just 2 ER with 3 BB and 12 K. But April ended quite some time ago and he has been unraveling ever since. In May he walked 6 batters in his 9.1 IP as hitters started to sit on his slider and not chase it nearly as frequently. June has been a disaster of an 8 IP stretch: 12 hits and a 7.88 ERA and the obligatory 3 HBP (Adams has plunked 8 this season in just 26.2 IP).
The fact is, Adams might be a useful middle reliever as a guy who can slot in for a Jimenez when Jimenez is unavailable, and a guy who can pitch in lower leverage while you try to come back. But he is not your “go to guy” when other options are present and selecting him over Jimenez and McFarland on Friday was proof that Kotsay has misjudged his pecking order.
Essentially for 2 games in a row, Jimenez and McFarland sat in the bullpen and watched first Nittoli and then Adams put the A’s into a late game deficit. That shouldn’t happen, not because of how great Jimenez and McFarland are but more because of how good Nittoli and Adams aren’t.
Baseball’s Tapestry Weaves Majestically
Friday night offered some classic weaving of story lines, with Jhoan Duran and Mason Miller squaring off as the two hardest throwing closers on this particular planet.
Surprisingly, Duran was summoned to start the 8th and even more shockingly he opened with 2 wild curve balls, the second of which sent Tyler Soderstrom limping to 1B on a HBP. Then stunningly, Duran eschewed his 100+ MPH fastball yet again opting instead to start Shea Langeliers off with his storied “splinker” — a high octane (96 MPH-ish) split fingered change thingy that Langeliers launched over the left field wall for a 2-run HR.
It was Duran’s first blown save all season (though one can debate whether a save can really be blown in the 8th — a save certainly cannot be secured in the 8th) with the loss secured on a hanging splinker.
Fast forward to the top of the 9th and “Miller Time,” which lasted only 7 pitches. Miller was not inclined to repeat the mistakes Duran had made in the previous half inning, as he came out firing 100+ MPH and quickly got 2 weak ground balls, the second one sawing off Carlos Correa’s bat.
Then comes the “tapestry moment”. Having frozen Travis Larnach with a backdoor slider for strike 2, Miller had Larnach in the difficult position of having to guess whether he would see another slider or whether he had to be ready for the triple-digit fastball.
So what did Miller unleash for the game’s final pitch? A splinker, and Larnach had no chance, waving at it to end the game. If Larnach wasn’t looking for a changeup, that’s understandable as Miller has thrown it now exactly 0.6% of the time. And it was a beaut, starting in the zone and diving down and away into the glove of the very man who had given the A’s the lead by taking Duran’s splinker deep.
These games, these moments, these story lines that capture the fancy of any fan who has a pulse: it’s why each game is still worth seeing, hearing, following even in a lost season amidst a lost franchise. Baseball: there’s just nothing quite like it.
