Elephant Rumblings: Reinforcements desperately needed

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

Congratulations! If you are reading this, you survived a weekend of very ugly baseball. The A’s were consistent: they lost to the Rays 11-0 on both Saturday and Sunday in a dizzying display of bad pitching, worse defense, and no offense. At 2-7, the A’s are tied with the Detroit Tigers for the worst record in baseball, and the team’s ERA of 7.54 is both astonishingly bad and the highest mark in MLB.

As if all that isn’t bad enough, one of the A’s top power bats, Seth Brown, was placed on the IL yesterday. Something has got to give.

Perhaps putting Triple-A hot-streaking Kevin Smith back in the lineup will put some spark in it and upgrade the defensive picture in the infield. Smith was truly awful in a 151 plate appearance stint with the A’s last season, during which he posted a wRC+ of just 48. But he’s crushing it with the Aviators this spring, and though we’re not even 10 games into the regular season, it is clearly time for the A’s to shake things up a bit.

What the A’s could really use is some dependability in the rotation. I don’t remember ever missing Paul Blackburn as much as I do now. Drew Rucinski, another injured A’s starter, is known for consistency. Both should be heading to Triple-A for rehab assignments this week per Martin Gallegos. That’s welcome news, but we still don’t know when they’ll be back in the A’s rotation.

In the meantime, let’s just trust that this current level of ineptitude is unsustainable. And maybe hope the A’s can score a run against the Orioles tonight.

Have some hope, and a wonderful week, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• Willis: A’s to place Seth Brown on 10-day injured list, recall Kevin Smith, per report
• Willis: A’s blasted again in 11-0 loss to Rays
• Willis: Seth Brown dealing with side discomfort
• Willis: James Kaprielian, A’s look to avoid sweep Sunday against Rays
• Gallegos: Game continues to slow down at Triple-A for surging Smith
• Polishuk: California Notes: Walsh, Padres, Dahl, Engel, Cruz, Morejon, Pomeranz, A’s, Blackburn, Rucinski

MLB News & Interest:

• Berry: Rays (9-0) match MLB’s best start of Wild Card era
• Adler: Álvarez’s promise evident in 2023 debut
• Polishuk and Deeds: Injury Notes: Duvall, Marte, Marlins
• The Athletic: Pirates’ Oneil Cruz fractures ankle in plate collision that clears benches ($)
• Murphy: One site’s mission to unearth baseball history
• Connolly: Baseball and The Boss: Orioles players have home opener/Springsteen doubleheader ($)
• Deeds: Rays Notes: Glasnow, Fleming, Walls
• Langs: The greatest sibling combos in MLB history
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

Roster moves.

Affiliate shredders.

Counting the ways the Rays beat the A’s.

Perkins dealing for the Lugnuts.

Susac opening strong.