Saturday, June 4, 2022

Blackburn Alley

 


I have no idea why the Oakland Athletics have specialized in pitchers who start out alright, get injured, and their career stalls for so long that they feel like a non-factor. You can point to people like Andrew Bailey, Justin Duchscherer, Dan Straily, A.J. Griffin, Jesse Hahn and Kendall Graveman as examples of these. You could also include Jarrod Parker, who had an incredible rookie season, an excellent second season, and then his elbow forbade him from ever pitching a season again.

And in that group also has to be Paul Blackburn, who came up in 2017, had a decent rookie year, then thanks to either injuries or rotation overflow, never had a substantial chance from then until 2021. Prior to this season, the most Blackburn had ever pitched in a season was 10 games. So far in 2022...he has pitched 10 games. But this time, he has a 5-1 record, a 2.15 ERA and 41 Ks.

So yes, Paul Blackburn's excellent numbers finally showed up. Just...not in time to help the A's 2018, 2019 2020 or 2021 playoff efforts. But...there's a last place team he can be the ace of, I guess.

And that's honestly where we're at in Oakland this year. Paul Blackburn, Frankie Montas, Cole Irvin, A.J. Puk and...a completely inexperienced rest of the team. And look, some of this inexperience is leading to cool moments, like Dany Jimenez becoming a surprisingly great closer, Kevin Smith being a huge defensive upgrade at third, and Christian Pache making sweeping plays in the outfield despite still being unable to hit. But...like the Reds, the A's are not playing to win, they're playing to let the prospects come up so they can compete again in a few years, when Josh Smith is running the Rangers and Julio Rodriguez has an MVP already. 

So until then...not a heck of a lot to really report about in Oakland. Blackburn's having a great season, but he's been with the A's for so long that he could end the year somewhere else. Chad Pinder, Jed Lowrie and Elvis Andrus could all go at the deadline. Montas, too, if he's unlucky. And a new core hasn't exactly arrived yet for this team. So for now, it's really just 'here's who's good now, they might not be here forever'.

Coming Tomorrow: There's no Arenado, no Story, Blackmon's gotten old...can this guy be relied upon to be the star in Denver?

1 comment:

  1. Sad that there are a handful of pitchers on this team that are holding down the fort. Their top 5 WAR guys are all pitchers.

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