Whatever listlessness is plaguing the Mariners currently, it would be great if they figured out how to snap out of it this week. This series against the Athletics represents the last time Seattle will face the current AL West leaders until September. It’s actually the last series against a division rival until the final week of June. I don’t know if it’s a lack of urgency that’s leading to the sloppy play or if it’s just plain old bad baseball. Maybe a series with real stakes is what the team needs to get this season on track again.
Thanks to the uninspired play throughout the AL West, the Athletics have led the division for the majority of the season so far. This despite running a win percentage just a hair over .500 throughout their reign atop the standings; indeed, they’ve gone exactly 14-14 since these two teams met in Seattle at the end of April. Their young offense is still the brightest spot on the roster, though they haven’t been as dominant as they were last year. The pitching staff is still a bit of a mess, though that group has improved over last year’s disaster. They’re still struggling to prevent runs at home in Sutter Health Park and it’s not even the middle of the summer when the temperatures skyrocket and the winds pick up.
The A’s lineup is built around a core that includes reigning Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler, and the veteran Brent Rooker. It’s been a pretty mixed bag for that group to start the season. Langeliers has taken his breakout from last year to another level, leading all AL catchers in fWAR and wRC+. Kurtz hasn’t found the power that he displayed during his award-winning season last year; instead, he’s getting on base more than any other player in baseball. The remaining four players in that core have really struggled; Wilson injured his shoulder recently, an oblique injury slowed Rooker down in April, and Soderstrom and Butler have simply been bad. Butler has struggled so much that he’s essentially been benched over the last few weeks.
From a previous series preview:
The A’s signed Aaron Civale in February to give them another veteran innings eater while their top pitching prospects continue to develop in the minors. Pitching for his sixth team in four years, he’s a prototypical back-end starter with a deep repertoire. He doesn’t stand out in any one area, but average skills across the board help him work through a lineup a couple of times without courting disaster. His best pitch is a hammer curveball and he’ll mix in five other pitches to keep batters off balance.
It hasn’t been easy serving as the Athletics’ ace during their brief time in Sacramento. Over the last two years, Luis Severino has pitched to a very respectable 3.14 ERA and 3.69 FIP on the road. At home, it’s been an ugly 5.91 ERA and a 4.68 FIP. At least he’s been able to rekindle some of that electric stuff that made him one of the most exciting pitchers in baseball nearly a decade ago. He’s throwing his fastball harder than he has since 2018, though he’s also throwing his heater less often than ever too. Instead, he’s leaning on his sweeper much more often and mixing in a sinker and cutter to give batters three different fastballs to deal with. His strikeout rate has benefitted — it’s the highest it’s been since 2022 — but his walk rate has jumped up to 11.7% too.
Jeffrey Springs has faced the same challenges pitching in Sutter Health Park, though his home/road splits aren’t as dramatic as Severino’s. Instead, he’s managed to survive by generating a ton of weak contact. His .255 BABIP was the ninth lowest among qualified pitchers last year and it’s even lower this season. He allows a ton of contact in the air and all that elevated contact hasn’t turned into damage like you might expect. It’s mostly just weak fly balls that are easily caught. He’s also throwing a little harder this season, though his strikeout-to-walk ratio is almost an exact mirror of what he posted last year. His best pitch is still his changeup and that’s what allows him to run a slightly reverse platoon split.
The A’s lost their weekend series against the Padres, allowing the Mariners to keep pace in the AL West standings. The Rangers dipped below Seattle after getting swept by the lowly Angels over the weekend. Meanwhile, the Astros have clawed their way to 4.5 games back after they swept the Cubs. The two Texas teams face each other in a huge four-game series this week.
