May Recap: Oakland Athletics

The month of May was a rollercoaster for the Oakland A’s. They started the month with a series win against Boston, which lead them back to .500. The A’s would continue to rally against teams like Tampa Bay and Detroit to stay positive, but with major injuries and a weak offense the team would finish may 11-16, and 22-29 overall.

The Good:

Even though the month of May was hard for the A’s, the clubhouse learned valuable information that hopefully will help them through out the rest of the season. The first major surprise in May was Brandon Inge. Inge was traded to the A’s April 30^th from Detroit with no expectations, or so we all thought. Inge hit four home runs, had 17 RBI’s, and two grand slams all within his first 10 games. Brandon became the first player to have four, four+ RBI games in a five game span since Lou Gehrig in 1931. Inge credits his success to being happy with his transition to Oakland where he gets to start and plays through the entire game.

Another trade the A’s made was for Josh Reddick in the offseason from the Boston Red Sox. Reddick’s trade was overshadowed by the A’s signing of rookie superstar Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes shined in the month of April, but hurt his hand and was out for almost the entire month of May. Once Cespedes went to the DL, Reddick saw the opportunity to rise up and become the leader Oakland needed. During the month of May Reddick hit 10 HR’s, and 18 RBI’s leading the team in all offensive categories.

The Bad:

There are certain things you cannot control in the game of baseball, the most treacherous one being injuries. During May, Yoenis Cespedes was on the DL with a hurt hand, and Brandon Inge after the greatest ten games of his life went on the DL because of groin pain. This hurt the A’s substantially on and off the field. With two of the best players on the team hurt, Reddick stepped up, but couldn’t do it all by himself. These injuries lead the A’s to a season high of eight straight losses to end the month of May.

The Ugly:

The most heartbreaking aspect for Oaktown during the month of May is their batting statistics. They are dead last in batting average and slugging percentage, along with being second to last for runs and on base percentage for the majors. Along with being the worst offensive team behind the plate, they are also the worst team in the American League West. Half way into May they were only four games behind the red-hot Texas Rangers, but with eight straight losses and a sweep by the Minnesota Twins to end May, the month of May got really ugly really quick for the A’s.

What comes next:

The A’s are better than what we have seen during the last two weeks of May. I believe in the month of June the A’s will pick things up and start moving back to being a .500 team with a few modifications. Now that Brandon Inge is back along with Yeonis Cespedes the team will pick up some much needed offense to help Oakland bring in runs through out all nine innings. There also needs to be some consistency within the bullpen. They do not have a solid closer. The A’s need a man they can look to in the ninth, who is reliable game after game, and ensure wins. Balfour was unstoppable in April, but unpredictable during May; hopefully he can take the pitching staff in Oakland from good to great. The last thing the A’s need to figure out is how to win at home. Out of the 12 games played at home, Oakland only won four games. If the city of Oakland can rally together despite all the controversy over where the franchise will be playing in the next few years and support their “Swinging A’s”, I believe that will be more helpful than anything. The A’s are at the bottom and have nowhere else to go but up which they will if they can make these crucial changes.


- Taylor Corzine