The A's are continuing their plunge. And this is the time that tests us all.
Let's recap:
The team has committed a major league high 37 errors.
It's lost 13 of 16 now.
The team's hitting is finally starting to come around, but now the starting pitching is bottoming out.
Our closer, best set-up man (preinjury), our starting shortstop, our rookie-of-the-year candidate and our best starting pitcher are all injured or recently came off the DL.
Our two highest-paid players have done more to hurt the offense than help it.
So much of what this team was supposed to be has gone down the tubes, but in large part it's due to unexpected circumstances. From the injuries to Harden, Calero, Dotel, Crosby and Swisher (especially Harden) to the drastic underperformance of Chavez, Kendall and Durazo.
Before the season started, the A's front office just asked that the young pitchers hit the zone and let the defense do the work behind them, but with 37 errors already the defense has faltered, which I think has also had an adverse effect on the pitchers like Blanton and Haren who are both now trying to nibble early in the count now and wind up behind. That's a recipe for disaster.
Billy Beane knew that 2005 was going to be a challenging year in which everything would have to break just right for this team to be competitive. This team could probably least afford many of the injuries, defensive lapses and team-wide offensive struggles if it was going to compete in the AL West in 2005.
Oh and one other thing to note, this team that was supposed to be a patient team has just two more walks than the supposedly free-swinging Minnesota Twins. The team that was supposed to have a great on-base percentage is merely .319 team-wide and continues to be last in slugging percentage.
Basically, everything that could go wrong, has. And that has led to our current position as bottom feeders.
I thought the feeling of freefall was supposed to be fun. All I feel is sick.
