After a very frustrating late-inning collapse last night, the A's will look to salvage a series win today on the back of Justin Duchscherer. The Duke (7-4, 2.08 ERA) is being talked about as possibly being the A's lone representative at the All Star Game. He's having a remarkable year, and as a guy who has never thrown 90'mph in his life, he's already had a remarkable career. So far, he's been the ultimate "Moneyball" player: widely overlooked by "traditionalists" due to his lack of velocity, but coveted by many due to the fact that he just plain knows how to get hitters out.
Unfortunately for us A's fans, the rumor mill is predicting that the Duke might be traded sometime this summer. And if you really think about it, it makes a lot of sense to shop him. He's proven to be an extremely versatile pitcher, able to perform at a very high-level at whatever role he is needed: long relief, set-up, closing and now starting. He's arbitration-eligible and under team control for this year and next year and is costing the team a grand total of $1.2 million for the whole package! For teams that are in need of cheap starting pitching but are unimpressed with Joe Blanton and are scared of Rich Harden's injury history, the Duke would seem to be a reasonable alternative. So, with a few weeks to go before the trade deadline, let's all make sure we thoroughly enjoy and don't take for granted every inning that the Duke throws for the Green & Gold.
Opposing the Duke and the rest of the A's will be Andrew Miller, a gargantuan southpaw that was one of the key pieces in the most recent Marlins' fire sale that saw the Fish send Miggy Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Motown for a package of prospects. Andrew's been somewhat inconsistent this season, as he's 5-5 with a 4.87 ERA overall; however, he's pitched extremely well as of late, going 7 innings in both of his most recent starts, striking out 9, walking only 3 and only allowing 2 runs total in that span. Let's hope Andrew's mo' was left east of the Mississippi, since as a lefty with good stuff, he could prove to be Grim Reaperian to the A's lefty-heavy lineup.
