I recently put up a poll about which of the injured A's are the ones that the A's miss more than any other.
Now let me say that I think that stats are very, very important. But I honestly believe that things like psychology has a big impact, particularly on certain players. Since Bobby Crosby went down with an injury, Eric Chavez has looked like a different player. He looks like April and May Chavez again. Kendall looks miserable and the offense is once again sputtering. Granted, the A's were facing a fantastic young pitcher today in Felix Hernandez, but the offense looks absolutely lost without Crosby. And the reason I'm saying Crosby is because the team has struggled offensively every single time Crosby has been out of the lineup.
There's also the news that Kielty could be out for a couple of weeks with a rib cage injury. The A's can not afford injuries to anyone, let alone their starting shortstop, centerfielder and ace.
But Crosby appears to be the beating heart of the order. The offense looks like dink and dunk central. And the biggest difference is that Eric Chavez looks like a different player. As though he wants to hit a bomb every time he steps to the plate. It's natural as the team leader to want to do more when the A's best right-handed batter is out, but in Chavy's case, it just appears to make him revert to an impatient, Mr. Swing-At-Everything.
I'm not willing to write this team off because every time we do, they strike back with a vengeance. But if the A's don't get some of their walking wounded back soon, the team could be headed for a freefall.
