At Least The A's Are Still Fun...

...I mean, they're in last again, but they're a fun last place team...

Like...for the second year in a row, the A's have thrown a no-hitter. Unlike last year, which was against the team that would eventually win the world series and thrown by a surging ace, this year, a down-on-his luck Mike Fiers had the best start of his season thus far by tossing a no-no against...the last place Reds.

...who, now that I am thinking about it, resemble an NL version of the A's.

I mean, let's do the math here. Both the Reds and the A's have:

• A strong, hard-throwing ace that had taken a few too many seasons to get good (Luis Castillo & Frankie Montas)
• A flashy, fun new acquisition who's doing f--k-all at the plate (Yasiel Puig & Jurickson Profar)
• A slumping flagship first baseman (Joey Votto & Matt Olson)
• An amazing defender who could be doing a lot better at the plate (Tucker Barnhart & Ramon Laureano)
• An insanely cool baseball name (Josh VanMeter and Skye Bolt)
• Strong players at shortstop and third keeping the team together (Eugenio Suarez and Jose Iglesias, Marcus Semien and Matt Chapman)
• A solid veteran pitcher that has yet to win a game this season (Sonny Gray & Marco Estrada)
• A tricky reliever that could just be traded somewhere better by July (Amir Garrett & Liam Hendriks)

I mean, there are fundamental differences otherwise- the Reds have a better rotation, the A's have a better bullpen, and the Reds have the trickier division to rise in the standings in. But...in terms of fun, entertaining last place teams, these two are very similar. And I sincerely hope good things eventually happen to them both.

Coming Tomorrow- A first-baseman for a team whose hot start has cooled into a very okay May record.