The Soundtrack of September: A Bleating Bullpen Lauds Lamb’s Performance with Athletics
The Oakland A’s pursuit of Jake Lamb didn’t make much sense if the only context for the move was his 2020 season – a .116 batting average with zero power with Arizona.
He had five hits in five weeks with the Diamondbacks.
On the other hand, this is a third baseman who was an All-Star in 2017 and who hit 59 homers combined in 2016-17.
He’s made three starts for the A’s and he has five hits, doubling his season total. More than that, the hits haven’t been softies – two doubles and a homer in addition to a couple of singles. His three runs scored for the A’s are one more than he had with Arizona, and his two RBI come after he had just one in 18 games with the D-Backs.
And it all comes with a soundtrack. One lifted from a sheep ranch.
“I think our bullpen is getting a little annoying for other bullpens,” Oakland closer Liam Hendriks said Wednesday after Lamb had two singles in four at-bats against the Rockies and drove in one of the A’s three runs in a 3-1 win. “Every time Jake gets a hit, we just go, ‘Baaaaa!’ We’ve been giving him that from the bullpen. He’s fit in well so far.”
The A’s were up against the wall when they learned that Matt Chapman would need hip surgery that would sideline him for four months. Whatever the A’s were going to do for the remainder of 2020, they’d have to do it without their All-Star third baseman.
Lamb is no Matt Chapman, but he had a history and he wasn’t going to cost much – just a free-agent signing after he’d cleared waivers once the Diamondbacks had designated him for assignment.
“The Diamondbacks were the only team I’ve ever been with, and the DFA was a bit of a surprise,” Lamb said. “But I got the call that this team needed someone.”
He joined the A’s Monday in Seattle, played in the second game of a smokey doubleheader in the Pacific Northwest and doubled and homered, making an immediate hit. Tuesday against the Rockies, he walked, doubled and scored the A’s only run. He followed that with his two-hit game Wednesday.
“I’ve seen him play for a while now [after] facing him when I was in Milwaukee,” Mike Fiers, who started for the A’s Wednesday, said. “Every once in a while, going to a new team kind of brings that lift to you, that new air. Putting on a new jersey could change a bunch of things for a guy. This organization knows the hitter he can be. I’m glad he’s in there producing.”
It’s only been three games, but the A’s have won two of them, and in both wins, he’s been in the middle of the offensive output.
“Jake’s been big for us,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You get inspired coming to a different team and want to put a good showing early on in a completely different situation than what he was in with not much playing time. It makes you feel like part of the group that much quicker when you contribute right away.”
And that’s exactly the script Lamb is following in Chapman’s stead.
“You always hate to see injuries,” Lamb said. “But I saw this was as a good opportunity for me to have a chance to come in, get some Abs and hopefully contribute to a winning playoff run.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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