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 30th 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
