Once again the Bay Area has two teams in the MLB Playoff talks. Both Giants and A's have had the league's best record this season and have since fluttered to hanging on to second place in the division and (somehow) leading the Wild Card race.
The Oakland A's have an array of thoughts going on, from the Front Office to the players on the field.
Are there regrets of trading away Cespedes? That was cleared up with the Adam Dunn trade. Oops. But it's not as though he scored all 5+ runs average per game the first three months of the season, the team was rocking and rolling. Did he play that large a roll in pitching more carefully to those around him? Very Possible. Did the clubhouse lose a Cuban flair that gave the team great vibes? Very possible.
Still, trading for two pitchers who were trending in the right direction for a big bat when your staff has done well this year is strange. Even more strange due to AJ Griffin, Sean Doolittle and Jarrod Parker coming back from the DL next year which would make the pitching staff even stronger than the beginning of the year.
Player thoughts?
Reliability. Confidence. Consistency.
The A's have lost all three of these, individually and as a team.
As a Giants fan I was punished earlier in the year seeing them put the bat on the ball time and time again. It looked like batting practice. The A's haven't looked like that in a long time.
Thoughts? Pressure. Of course all professional athletes all have to be able to perform under pressure but being known as the team to beat and then losing your Homerun Derby Champion sure doesn't look easy. The A's just have to find themselves again, reunite as a team. This road trip will be their make or break for the season.
Winning the series in Chicago is the start.
The San Francisco Giants haven't looked like a playoff team since the calendar turned to June.
Still hanging around from their stunning start to retain the Wild Card lead it may be in their best interest to be second in the Wild Card. Why? They've played their best baseball on the road. AT&T Park has haunted the team for months somehow.
Their defense is shaky in the middle of the infield. Brandon Crawford. Ex-Dyson Vacuum to all balls within 20 feet has broken down and had more errors this year than any before.
The bullpen has seen little improvement in the past years. Tim Lincecum, Yusmeiro Petit and Javier Lopez are the most consistent pitchers out of the pen at the moment, and unfortunately we use most of the bullpen too quickly. We also don't allow pitchers to pitch to more than one player. That could be the biggest pet peeve of all Giants fans when it doesn't work out.
This month will tell the tale of the Giants. With 6 games against the arch rival Dodgers it will define the West.
Which team will show up this year? Past even years have been good for the Giants. It's about time for a little 2010/2012 magic for the Orange and Black.
Hopefully I get to write to you in 4 weeks about the Playoff Matchups.
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