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Look at all those fresh young faces in the lineup! Wins and losses may not matter much at this point in the season other than affecting whether we get a top 5 or top 10 draft pick next year, but it's certainly a lot more enjoyable watching the young players learn and grow versus getting another giant serving of Pasta Lowrie. We're seeing a lot of the future in yesterday and today's lineups, and if yesterday is any indication, there is potential for that future to be very bright indeed. The only young guys not in the lineup today are Alcantara (gotta get those Muncy at-bats in) and Maxwell (who caught last night, though really we should be seeing a lot more of him because we know what we have in Vogt).
Besides those two, all the youngins are here. We've got Smolinski leading off against a RHP, which is...ehhhh...though he did make a fantastic diving catch last night and is looking like he could be a real option in center field. Ryon Healy has a 10-game hitting streak going, Brett Eibner is back in the lineup today though he's in left field as opposed to right, and Chad Pinder is playing shortstop and got his first major league RBIs last night. Exciting!
Taking the mound for Oakland is Kendall Graveman, fresh off his complete game shutout in what was probably the best pitching performance the A's have had all year. Graveman has been rolling along for the last two months or so and is looking like a cromulent (and healthy) #4 or #5 pitcher with potentially higher upside. He's been a major bright spot this season and hopefully he can continue to have good starts and make good use of his sinker, which he has been throwing A LOT of.
Pitching for the Indians is Trevor Bauer, who's been having a good season. He shut down the Blue Jays and struck out 13 in his previous start and has been racking up strikeouts right and left this season. It will be a good opportunity for several of our young right-handed batters to show they can hang and at least make contact against a strikeout-oriented righty pitcher.
Game time is 12:35 PT. Go A's!
