Lacking Consistency: Breaking Down Athletics' Bullpen Struggles
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Even though the Athletics bullpen has not been the best this season, recently, it has completely collapsed.
One bad apple will always spoil the bunch, but what if the bunch is all spoiled? That has been the theme of the Athletics' bullpen all season: there has always been at least one bad pitcher who has tanked the stock of the entire group. But recently, it feels like every pitcher the A's have put out there is more than likely going to blow the game. What is going on?
Usually Reliable Pitchers, and Not Pitching Well
As mentioned earlier, a big reason the Athletics' bullpen has felt so bad this year has been a handful of pitchers. Joel Kuhnel and Geoff Hartlieb, to name a couple. But besides them, there have been a handful of gems for the most part: Hogan Harris, Luis Medina, Jose Suarez, and even Elvis Alvarado.
And while they have had their ups and downs, right now, the majority of those names are not at their best. Jose Suarez would have an awful series against Boston, in which he would allow both a game-winning grand slam and a top-of-the-10th two-run home run. Two losses at the hands of a pitcher whom the Athletics thought they could trust. Keep in mind, in Suarez's last 7.1 innings before the All-Star break, he would not give up a single run.
During the All-Star break, I wrote an article detailing how good Luis Medina has been for the Athletics this season. While it might have been misplaced, there was real hope entering the second half of the season if Medina could maintain the pace he was on. From July 1 to the All-Star break, Medina would have a 0.00 ERA and had only allowed three hits in 5.2 innings. Incredible for a reliever.
And while that was a very small sample size, Medina looked excellent. His velocity was looking great, his control had improved, and overall, he looked like the heart of the Athletics bullpen. But after giving up back-to-back home runs vs. the Red Sox to lose the game and collapsing late in a loss against the Diamondbacks, the momentum was gone.
Brady Basso was another guy who started to look amazing. In his last 7.1 innings before the recent loss to Detroit, Basso would fail to give up a single run. But after giving up three runs (two earned) vs. the Tigers, along with four hits, a lot of credibility has been lost. And while it was one bad outing, the lack of consistency in the bullpen has made it impossible to feel comfortable late in the game.
Terrible Timing
Before the break, the starting rotation was easily the Athletics' biggest issue to address. But since the rotation shake-up, the A's starting pitching has been solid, to say the least, with only Jeffrey Springs and, surprisingly, Gage Jump struggling the most. Jack Perkins could be added to that group, but he looked amazing in his most recent start.
This flip-flop in production has made losses feel even worse. Instead of losing by double digits or before the fifth inning, the Athletics have been able to hold on until the later parts of the game. This is not sustainable and, over time, will lead to more losses than there would have been if the production had been swapped.
What's Next?
The Athletics are in a very rough situation with everything mentioned above. With the deadline just days away, it is very unlikely that the Athletics will make a "splash" move now that they are out of contention and their offense is sputtering badly.
For now, the only hope the A's have is if these pitchers start to turn things around. As mentioned before, the pitchers have shown prolonged stretches of success, so the odds of them doing so are actually high.
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Andrew Ferguson is the beat writer at Athletics On SI. He is currently pursuing his sports journalism degree from UNLV, striving to turn his lifelong passion for sports into his career.
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