Vinsurmountable

 

The Oakland Athletics, as discussed, may be the worst team in the majors this year, but Friday night they did something they hadn't done in over 30 games: they finished a game where one of their starters got the winning decision, in this case Kyle Muller, former Braves prospect. 

The game in question was against the Kansas City Royals. At last, the A's have found a team where the only thing they're guaranteed to lose during their series is their announcer. 

Cause, look, even early on in the season, the Royals' hitting was...particularly dire. It's marginally better now that there's three guys hitting over .250, but when the guys that aren't are people like Bobby Witt, Michael Massey, Kyle Isbel and Nate Eaton, y'know, the guys that were supposed to inherit the team eventually, it's not a good look. Yes, Salvador Perez playing well is always a good thing, he's still one of the best catchers in the AL and can still hit. And yes, Vinnie Pasquantino having a solid sophomore season with 6 homers and 15 RBIs is also a very good thing, as he and Nick Pratto are both making sure the power numbers aren't going down anytime soon.

And yes, I suppose it is also good that people like Kyle Isbel and Nicky Lopez are good defensively. But...having people that are good on defense and can't hit, having people that are great power hitters but can't play defense, and having people like M.J. Melendez who can't be trusted on either is not a good look at all, especially when the division is as up in the air as it is. Like, okay, we're still not sure who's winning the division, but we know who's gonna LOSE it.

The rotation isn't much better. Greinke's alright, Keller's been pretty reliable, Bubic WAS reliable til he, like so many other pitchers this year, got hurt and needs Tommy John surgery. People who were sure bets for me, like Brady Singer and Scott Barlow, are struggling so far and bubbling under 5+ ERAs. And, of course, now Aroldis Chapman's returned to his habit of beginning a save and then just abandoning the idea entirely and not bothering to get people out at all. He was looking so good a few weeks ago, and now the real Chapman has returned.

I know the A's are bad right now, but it's possible that the Royals might be even worse, because they're this bad even while trying to rebuild. I thought they were gonna be a little better this year, but this is ridiculous. I sincerely hope some of these guys can figure it out, because if not, all its gonna take for Royals games to make the news is more broadcasters mispronouncing the names of Kansas City museums.

Coming Tonight: His brother got hurt, but he decided to kick into gear in his honor.