A's Biggest Problem Could Decide Mariners Series
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WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Seattle Mariners haven't hit much to start the season, batting just .216 as a team, but they've still found ways to create offense. Their 100 team walks on the season ranks them fifth in all of baseball, pushing their OBP to .320 and turning their patience into production.
That approach could loom large in this series against the A's, who have struggled to limit the free passes in the early going. A's pitchers have already surrendered 115 walks this season, the second-most in the league.
Walks mean traffic on the bases, more pitches being thrown, and a bullpen that has recorded the eighth-most innings this season to get even more work in a key series.
Mark Kotsay on managing the bullpen ahead of a key divisional series
Against a team like Seattle that is built upon patience, pitch counts can spiral quickly. That means that the A's bullpen will need to be ready to go in this one.
For his part, A's manager Mark Kotsay has been trying to make sure he has the bullpen as rested as possible for this series, while focusing on winning the games that have been in front of his team.
"With Hogan [Harris], with one lefty, we're going into, like you said, a team that expected to win the division with a heavy left-handed lineup. That creates a matchup where you've seen me use [Mark] Leiter Jr. against lefties. His numbers state that he's had success against lefties, so he's kind of a second lefty down there, but he's not.
"Managing the bullpen right now through the 16-game stretch, I think we're doing a decent enough job of trying to not pitch guys when they're taxed, and give them a little bit of rest, or enough rest to rejuvenate.
There will be a heavy emphasis on the performance of the A's starting pitchers in this series. How deep they pitch could determine how fresh the bullpen is in games two and three. This will be especially noteworthy at the very end of a 16-game stretch.
Issue becomes more important when looking at the projected starters
All things considered, the A's have a pretty good group lined up for this series.
Monday: J.T. Ginn (0-0, 3.31) vs. Emerson Hancock (2-1, 2.28)
Tuesday: Jacob Lopez (1-1, 6.38) vs. Luis Castillo (0-1, 5.40)
Wednesday: Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.54) vs. Logan Gilbert (1-3, 4.03)
Ginn has only made two starts thus far, but with his three relief appearances also mixed in, he has compiled a walk rate of 11.1%, which is middle of the road for all A's pitchers. He's not the best option, but he's not the worst either.
Lopez on the other hand has a walk rate of 18.9%, which is 13th on the A's out of 15 pitchers, and has also been a key reason why he hasn't been going deeper into games. Limiting the free passes is surely a focal point for Lopez right now, and he'll be in for a tough test on Tuesday.
The one factor that could work in his favor in this matchup is that the Mariners also rank third in baseball with 214 team strikeouts, which is an area that Lopez has done well in the past. This could be an awful matchup for him, or could be the start that gets him back on track.
Civale will be facing the ace of the Mariners' staff, but he also ranks second in the team in walk rate at 6.7%. That said, he's also coming off a tough outing against the White Sox, though it was his first time pitching in Sacramento. Back on the road in a big game, the expectation is that he'll be closer to the pitcher that allowed three total runs in his first three starts.
In a series where traffic on the bases could decide the outcome, the A's will need to limit free passes and get length out of their starters to come away with key wins against the team many picked to win the division. If they can't, the Mariners could walk their way right back into the AL West race.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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