This A's Hitter Keeps Solving Braves Starter José Suarez

On Monday, the Atlanta Braves announced that they'll be sending José Suarez to the bump on Tuesday night for game two of their series with the Athletics. This is a solid move, considering that some of the A's top bats are left-handers, and only two of them were left in the starting lineup on Sunday when Toronto sent out their own southpaw in Eric Lauer.

The two bats that remained were Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom, while Lawrence Butler received a second day off in a row, away from the turf. Kurtz struggled against left-handers last season, batting just .197 against them, but he also drilled a single on Sunday at 112.5 miles per hour that rocketed up the middle and into center.

Second baseman Jeff McNeil also ended up sitting on Sunday, making way for Darell Hernaiz to get his first start of the season. On Tuesday, we could end up seeing Andy Ibáñez at second if the plan is to limit McNeil's exposure to left-handers. The A's need a spark on offense, and Ibáñez is a veteran that was brought in to destroy lefties.

That said, he's not the batter that Suarez should be worried about.

A's hitter Suarez needs to be careful with

It should come as no surprise that with the A's young lineup, it had to be someone with a little more experience under their belts. That would be Brent Rooker, who has faced Suarez five times in his career, going 4-for-5 with three solo home runs.

The A's plan of attack on Tuesday should be pretty clear: Get on base in front of Rooker and let him swat dingers. It's just that easy. Tell 'em Wash!

That said, it's unclear how deep into the game Suarez is expected to go, given that he was just named the fifth starter on Monday. Presumably he'll be treated as a regular starter in the rotation, and not a spot-starter to face the A's, but that's not guaranteed.

All this is to say, we're unsure how many cracks Rooker will have against Suarez since we don't know how many pitches he'll have to work with.

Some home run highlights!

The first home run Rooker hit off Suarez was on April 24, 2023. This is right after the A's DH had started making a name for himself on the roster, following the injury to Seth Brown and Rooker's showing in Baltimore. This was on the first pitch Rooker saw, and it was just about middle-middle.

The second home run was from the same game, this time in the third inning. The pitch is still belt high, but slightly further away from Rooker. He was still able to yank it pull side for his sixth home run of the season. Suarez ended up allowing five home runs to A's hitters in this game, including Rooker and Jesus Aguilar going back-to-back twice. The other was hit by Kevin Smith, his first of the year.

The final time these two would meet in that game, Rooker drove a ball to the warning track in center, but that was caught by Mike Trout.

Fast forward to October 1, 2023, and Rooker would single and homer off Suarez. In fact the home run he hit looked like it was on a line for where the out had been recorded, but it just went 50 feet further.

A's vs. Suarez

Outside of Rooker's bat, the A's have struggled against Suarez in general, with the rest of the team going just 2-for-11 against him. That said, some of those bats have taken big steps forward in their development since they last faced Suarez.

One of those hits was from Lawrence Butler, who is 1-for-2 against the left-hander, while the other is from Andy Ibáñez, who has gone 1-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.

Shea Langeliers (0-for-3) and Tyler Soderstrom (0-for-1) are the only other A's bats that have faced him in their careers. Langeliers is also the only player to strike out against Suarez, which could bode well for the A's strikeout parade of the early going slowing down a touch on Tuesday.

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