Good afternoon everyone. It is with great pleasure that I step up to the plate and actually contribute to the stellar body of work that is Athletics Nation.
The line-up for your Oakland Athletics (17-9-3) is as follows:
#Athletics lineup vs Brewers pic.twitter.com/IOo45X7G7V
— Joe Stiglich (@JoeStiglichCSN) March 29, 2015
- Zobrist starting in RF is something we will continue to see until Josh Reddick becomes healthy enough to patrol his usual stomping grounds. Fuldy gets the start in CF with Gentry holding down LF. It is a little odd seeing your best defensive outfielder play LF in place of CF. The OF picture should become clearer upon the return of Coco.
- Keep an eye on Semien's arm (a little hard with radio, I am aware). We witnessed both sides of the spectrum during yesterday's game.
- Sogard getting a start against a right hander usually leaves much to be desired but given that Sogard is the de-facto boss of Spring Training, he'll probably have a field day at the plate.
- Phegley continues to hit the ball out of the park while forgoing plate discipline (as his .239/.286/.522 slash line will show you) this Spring. He has struck out 11 times and walked only twice thus far. If his arm is as advertised, then you take that slash line and LIKE it.
- Lawrie has been a joy to watch on the hot corner but has left a few of us concerned about his at-bats. He's sporting a .167/.205/.333 slash line thus far. I'm sure he'll be fine, given that he's only played for one team so far in his young career may still be adjusting to the coaches/mannerisms/tomfoolery that is the A's organization.
- Opening day is awfully close, so the rotation appears to be set for the foreseeable future. In Kendall Graveman, you don't just get an awesome nickname (Gravedigger), you get a .60 ERA, 7 hits given up, and 8 strike outs. He'll be penciled in as the A's 4th starter. Susan Slusser has dropped hints throughout Spring Training about how highly the organization views Graveman. We honor the many casualties that were had in a midst the Zito/Chavez/Pomeranz Wars.
***
Today's lineup against the Athletics in Mesa. First pitch 3:05 CT on @620wtmj. #CactusCrew pic.twitter.com/EyaHiYCunq
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 29, 2015
- The Brew Crew will send Michael Blazek out to the mound. Blazek, the 35th round pick by the St. Louis Cardinal in 2007 throws 4 pitches (fastball, curveball, slider, & change-up). He is a flyball pitcher, relying primarily on his 94MPH fastball. Everything I'm finding the guy points to a career in the bullpen but I wouldn't be surprised to see him start if he does well. Injuries create their own damn lineup cards and couldn't care less about anything else.
- Players to watch out for: Lucroy (He's good. Real good.), Segura (always a threat on the bags), and Carlos Gomez (dingerzzzzz). Adam Lind in a Brewers uniform still looks a little weird to me
Roster Moves
Chris Bassitt has been sent down, per Jane Lee:
Bassitt not surprised, says, "Obviously there's a lot of talent here, and I didn't perform. I'll go down and iron things out."
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) March 29, 2015
By "ironing things out", Bassitt really means, "Get out of left handers".
vs. RHB: .250/.317/.321
vs. LHB: .317/.411/.381
His OPS+ is 44 points higher against LHB, in addition to his BABIP also being .100 higher. While BABIP does regress, make no mistake that left handed hitters are seeing the ball much better (and hitting it much harder) whilst facing Bassitt.
Injury updates:
Crisp might play some catch today and potentially other baseball activity. Hope is still game action Tuesday.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) March 29, 2015
Get well soon, fearless leader.
Reddick will play five innings over in Minor League camp today.
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) March 29, 2015
Reddick continues to get better after sustaining a right oblique strain. At least we can bet on Reddick torching the ball once he's back from injury. Right? Right.
Melvin says Jarrod Parker hit 92 mph in sim game, looked great
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) March 28, 2015
Parker another simulated game Thursday. Melvin says gotta build him up to 2 innings before consider a minor league game #Athletics
— Joe Stiglich (@JoeStiglichCSN) March 29, 2015
Forst's pragmatic take on Parker thus far:
Asked A's asst GM David Forst about Parker's timetable today. Says June 1 tentatively. "No reason to rush him and plenty of reasons not to."
— Joe Stiglich (@JoeStiglichCSN) March 29, 2015
While the recovery Tommy John surgery (let alone a second procedure) is a long and winding road, there have been no indications that Parker's march towards recovery is being delayed or hindered in anyway. Encouraging news given the cold and harsh reality set before Parker and his hope of getting back on the mound.
Enjoy the game everyone, don't mind the abysmal formatting.