Athletics series preview: A battle of the worst teams in baseball

As recently as 2020, the A’s were in the playoffs of the COVID-shortened season, having won 97 games in each of the previous two seasons. Since then, they have traded away Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, and Sean Manaea, losing Marcus Semien and Liam Hendriks to free agency. The franchise has now bottomed out with the worst record in baseball and they could be on the move with visions of a new ballpark in Las Vegas.

The offense hasn’t been god awful, thanks in part to former Royals outfielder Brent Rooker, who was named American League Player of the Week recently. The journeyman outfielder leads the American League in slugging and OPS and his nine home runs are second in the league. Another former Royals outfielder - young Esteury Ruiz - provides excitement with his legs as one of the fastest players in the game with a league-leading 13 steals in 14 attempts. First baseman Ryan Noda, selected from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft, is seventh in the league in walks.

The A’s have the worst run differential in baseball by a large margin, having been outscored 244-119, and pitching is the reason why. The arms have been dreadful, with a 7.37 ERA, the highest walk rate, the highest home run rate, and the lowest strikeout rate in baseball. The rotation has improved recently with the addition of top prospect Mason Miller, who fired seven no-hit innings against the Mariners his last time out. The 2021 third-round draft pick has a fastball in the upper-90s with a slider and a cutter.

Former Braves prospect Kyle Muller has yet to pitch into the seventh inning this year, but allowed just one run over five innings his last time out. Walks have been a big issue and opponents are hitting .339/.412/.492 against him overall. Ken Waldichuk had a rough start, but has given up three runs or less in three of his last four starts. The lefty brings a low-90s fastball with a slider and a change up, but has had trouble keeping the ball in the park.

A’s relievers have been just as bad as the starters, but they’ve swapped out a lot of relievers lately, calling up Austin Pruitt, Rico Garcia, and former Royals farmhand Spencer Patton recently. Former Royals lefty Richard Lovelady has a 2.35 ERA, although a poor strikeout-to-walk ratio. Closer Jeurys Familia was let go yesterday, leaving Zach Jackson as the most likely candidate to get save opportunities now.

The Royals may be circling this series on their schedule as a chance to get right, but the A’s are likely doing the same. These two teams are very bad, but there is some talent on each side, just no depth to speak of. We’re a long way away from the epic Wild Card game these two teams played in 2014, but perhaps the seeds of their next post-season matchup are being planted this year.