TORONTO — The A’s were feeling good early Sunday afternoon. Their batting practice was a reflection of that.
The group of Khris Davis, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman put on a display at the Rogers Centre. Chapman hit one just beneath the Jumbotron in dead center field. Olson hit one off a window two decks up. Davis lofted moonshots from gap to gap.
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“Dang!” shortstop Marcus Semien said walking through the dugout to the clubhouse. “That’s why I don’t hit in that group.”
Semien would later crush his own homer, but his came in the A’s 9-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, which completed a four-game sweep.
For the A’s, you couldn’t have asked for a better East Coast road trip. Manager Bob Melvin said itwas probably the toughest all year — 10 straight with no off days at the Yankees, at Red Sox, at Blue Jays. And the A’s went 7-3.
Don’t look now, but the A’s are 2 1/2 games back of a Wild Card spot. It’s early, really early, but what they did on this road trip is enough to make you keep a side eye on the standings.
Here are 10 things we learned from the impressive showing by the A’s on this 10-game road trip.
1. A’s ran through “The Six”
The A’s took Toronto’s hearts this series in that four-game sweep, making up for the years past. Melvin categorized the Rogers Centre as a “House of Horrors” for his team with it getting swept there last season. The A’s found it more to their liking this season. The A’s held the Blue Jays in check for the majority of the series, outscoring them 27-12, while tagging six homers. The A’s have homered in 10 straight games.
“It’s a good place to hit here,” Semien said of the Rogers Centre. “We faced some tough, tough pitching in New York and Boston. We started to get a little more pitches to hit this series. Guys were making adjustments when they needed to.”
The A’s also figured out a way to keep Toronto’s lethal offense in the ballpark. Entering Sunday, the Blue Jays were tied with the A’s for 60 homers on the year. Over this four-game series, the Blue Jays went yard just twice.
“You don’t win ball games without pitching your share,” Melvin said. “Everyone contributed to that.”
The A’s will go home with a 25-22 record and are just a half-game back of the Los Angeles Angels for third place in the American League West (Angels are currently playing).
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It is the first four-game sweep for the A’s at Toronto in the organization’s history.
2. The bats are for real
You’ve known that for a while, right? Ehh, most of you have but some of you might need a reminder. So, let’s continue with this because it’s important. A lot of teams underestimated what the A’s could do with the bats. Remember, Chris Sale looked as if he was going to dominate the A’s, but they made him throw north of 100 pitches and got him out of there after the fifth. Semien ripped a homer out of the stadium off the left-hander.
Just go back to what Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
“Those guys. Get them out of here,” he said of the A’s lineup and the way they hit. “The quality of the at-bats, I was just telling somebody, that was uncomfortable, the way they foul off pitches. Even with two strikes, they’re doing damage. They kept fouling off fastballs, putting good at-bats.”
One through nine you have a pretty confident bunch of hitters who aren’t afraid to take their hacks. They were top 10 in the league in both wOBA and WRC+ before Sunday even though they had a 23.8 percent strikeout rate. If the team had a legitimate No. 1 and 2 starter you might be seeing a fierce playoff contender.
With teams that strikeout a lot, you’ll see offense come and go. The A’s hit just .197 in the nine games against the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros before they came East. But that just goes to show that good hitting teams have a way of balancing things out. The A’s hit 19 homers and scored 61 runs in these last 10 games. That alone says a lot.
3. Olson and Chapman
Even Olson’s own mother, Lee Olson, said that he goes through funks then he’ll turn it around. And for the two Matts, that’s what this road trip proved. They’ll give you the strikeouts, but also the homers. They’ll give you 4 for 4 days and the 0 for 4.
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Both Olson and Chapman struggle to hit the heaters. Olson’s been on the record saying that he’s struggled to hit fastballs a bit this season. But both had very good showings during this 10-day road trip on offense and defense. These are the two cornerstones for the franchise moving forward, and it was good for them to get a taste of what it means to play on the biggest stages. You could tell the two salivated over being under the bright lights.
Olson and Chapman are elite defenders, but one thing stood out more than anything for me, at least when it comes to Chapman: his base running. Coaches always talk about going a “hard 90” meaning running hard down the line. Well, Chapman does that every time he hits the ball. Just look at Sunday, for example. He turns a regular single into a double.
Then look what he does on the next play to get to third base.
It looks easy, but only if you anticipate a ball in the dirt or, in this case, a wild pitch. Chapman had a great secondary lead and made the split decision to swipe third. Not many players who play his position every day like he does would do that. Chapman finished the day 3 for 4, while Olson’s batting .296 with three homers in his last seven games. It’s safe to say that Olson’s mama knows best about her son.
Melvin called Chapman a five-tool player. One scout said he’s almost there, adding that if he can improve his hit tool he’ll be an All-Star.
4. Dustin Fowler is, in fact, the center fielder of the future
Fowler batted leadoff Sunday, which should give you a glimpse into the A’s future. His bat speed is electric, and though he’s not a high on-base guy, he’ll give the A’s some juice at the top of the order. These 10 games have been quite the experience for Fowler, who recently got called up and made a trip to New York and faced the team that originally drafted him in the Yankees. Fowler then got his first hit off Sonny Gray, the player he was traded for, at Yankee Stadium. Fowler improves the A’s outfield immensely, an outfield that was thethird-worst outfield according to their UZR rating after Saturday.
He can flat-out fly down the base paths and looks as if his knee won’t give him any trouble moving forward. The A’s are slowly assembling the athletic pieces they think will help the team turn the corner. Fowler hit his first career homer Friday and also doubled in the gap to bring in a run.
But this single up the middle Sunday made you think that he’s going to be a ballplayer.
He never looks like he’s beat on a pitch. And in the outfield, the A’s won’t get beat on any balls over their head with Fowler in center.
5. Jonathan Lucroy’s influence
Rewatch Saturday’s game. There’s a moment where Lucroy calls time to go give pitcher Sean Manaea a pep talk. He pounded Manaea on the chest, essentially telling him to buckle down, giving Manaea the confidence he needed to get through five innings even though it wasn’t his best start.
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The influence of Lucroy has probably helped to salvage this thin pitching staff, but the biggest influence Lucroy’s had is without question on Manaea. The left-hander never hesitates with Lucroy behind the plate, throwing whatever pitch his catcher calls. Lucroy is a film rat and part of what helped keep a lot of these stellar hitting teams off the board was in part because of him and his pitch calling. Lucroy’s been impressive with the bat, too, hitting .281 with a .348 on-base percentage. Say what you want about his lack of power this season with no homers, but that’s not why the A’s pay him. He’s done his job with this pitching staff. That stood out the most in these three huge series.
6. Rotation issues
As good as the A’s pitched during this road trip and as good as Daniel Mengden has been in his last two outings, surrendering just one earned run, the A’s might have a rotation problem. It was thin to start, but with the unknown that lies ahead with the injuries to Andrew Triggs and Brett Anderson, the A’s could be in for a rough patch of the season.
Kendall Graveman and Daniel Gossett seem like the next two options to fill those two rotation spots if needed, but the team just sent Graveman back down and Gossett, though he’s pitched well in the minors, is still averaging almost four walks a game. But those two are the ones I’d imagine would get the call-up. Looking back, the Anderson move was maybe scraping the bottom of the barrel, but the A’s don’t have that many options, and the injuries haven’t made it easier.
7. Khris Davis possible DL stint
Khris Davis looked as if he tweaked his groin on a check swing in Sunday’s game, and if he goes to the DL for a good amount of time, that’s not good news for the A’s. Davis leads the team with 13 homers and currently has the most dingers in baseball since 2016. He’s also driven in 38 runs this season and is a huge piece to the A’s offense. Melvin sounded as if Davis would, in fact, miss some time, meaning the A’s will have to readjust without him.
8. Lou Trivino and Blake Treinen duo
This could possibly be one of the best set-up man/closer duos in baseball. Blake Treinen’s stuff is disgusting and his 1.19 ERA proves that. Trivino, who was originally called up in April before being briefly sent back down, is here to stay and is right behind Treinen with the amount of filth he throws. Both toss 98-99 mph and Treinen’s sinker is the most unfair pitch in baseball.
The learning curve for Trivino especially was huge on this trip. He said Yankee Stadium was the loudest he’s ever heard a stadium and referenced this pitch to Aaron Judge when speaking on it.
Trivino walked in a run, but these two together are going to be a nightmare for teams going forward.
9. The bullpen did its job but it’s not sustainable
You have to give the bullpen credit for its heroics. On both Thursday and Friday, they covered for Triggs and Anderson who were taken out of the game in the third and second innings, respectively. They’ve had to come in early a lot this year. But it’s not sustainable. Reliever Yusmeiro Petit was second in innings pitched among AL relievers before Sunday (28), and the bullpen as a whole has had to cover 169 2/3 innings. They did claim reliever Carlos Ramirez off waivers from Toronto, but the only way to solve the bullpen is for the starters to get back on track.
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10. So, what to make of it all?
Not a lot of people saw this A’s team coming out of this trip at 7-3. But the unfortunate part is that there’s still a lot of season to play, and the A’s have to answer their injury issues. But what one should take from this club is that they can play with anybody. Looking toward the future, that’s promising.
They’re 7-2 in one-run games, which shows that there’s really no let-up in this young group of talent. They answer the bell every single time. Who knows if the A’s rotation issues can be salvageable, but these series proved that the A’s are just a couple of arms away from being a very competitive foe for teams in the American League.
(Top photo: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
