A’s spring training record as of March 10, 7-5-1

As Spring Training continues for the A’s, not much has changes in the way of competition. The fifth (and possibly fourth) starting position is still up in the air, nobody has claimed it, though at times many have pitched well. Let’s again look into those fighting for a spot in the A’s rotation taking into account only those who in reality have a shot out of camp plus a sleeper.

Non-roster invitee Edgar Gonzalez Innings pitched  6 ERA 3.00

Josh Outman: innings pitched 6 2/3 ERA 4.05

Gio Gonzalez: innings pitched 61/3 ERA 5.68

Jerome Williams: innings pitched 7 ERA 5.14

SLEEPER:

Vince Mazzaro: innings pitched 5 ERA 0.00

So is there anyone you would feel comfortable having in the five spot to start the season?

Hopefully things will clear up in terms of competition, but as it looks right now, Gio Gonzalez is out of the mix. He has looked good at times but once he faces the slightest but of adversity, he becomes “wild thing” again.

Jerome Williams seems to be a long shot at best to make the rotation although early on he was impressive so who knows, he might still be considered.

For the remaining three, Josh Outman, Edgar Gonzalez, and Vince Mazzaro. Of the three, Outman was considered as a top candidate for the position to start the spring, yet he has lacked consistency, but he’s my pick to win the spot. Not on impressiveness, rather the lack of consistency from the rest. Also I could see the A’s giving Edgar Gonzalez a chance as well because of big-league experience, and Mazzaro on the fact that he’s been pitching great all spring, and he’s a ground ball pitcher.

Let me know your opinions on the rotation.

Part 2 utfield/reserve up next

Sunday’s game against Arizona clouded things just a little more for Oakland manger Bob Geren.

As the spring continues, the competition for the final spot in the Oakland rotation will be where most attention is focused. Today the A’s had another look at Edgar Gonzalez a long shot candidate but a candidate nonetheless.  I wouldn’t say his outing was completely forgettable because he did strike out four and issued zero walks. Gonzalez went 3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits most likely making the battle for the final spot that much more foggier. Those up for the final position, both Gonzalez’, Outman, Williams, ( now you can say Vincent Mazzaro) have all had up and down appearances.

Mazzaro, (All alone in the two solid outings category) held the D-BACK’S scorless in two relief innings of work, surrendering one hit and striking out three. Of the “little three” in the A’s minor Leauge system (Mazzaro, Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson) Mazzaro is the oldest. I have to believe that the chances of Mazzaro making the club out of spring are small however;  if he continues to out pitch those in front of him (both Gio and Edgar Gonzalez, Josh Outman, and Jerome Williams) we could be seeing an early glimpse of what the A’s farm system can yield.

You had to assume that Outman had the upper hand until today (two runs surrendered, four hits etc.) because his previous start was excellent. Now on the other hand, Gio Gonzalez -since only appearing once- might have the upper hand on Outman and the gang mainly because he’s next in line to pitch. If he can forget about his first appearance and dominate like most expected him to he might have a chance. Now personally, I don’t see Gonzalez doing so unless he can get over his mental episodes and just pitch.

So the race continues, who will pitch themselve into a starting gig for the A’s remains to be seen. Would anyone mind seeing Vin Mazzaro? if not, what would the A’s do with Gio Gonazalez and Josh Outman? There’s only room for one more lefty in the bullpen. Could this be the last we see of Gio if he fails to overcome himself? Hope not becasue he’s done nothing for his value on the trade market.

As the first day of official spring ball wrapped up, Josh Outman has the edge for the final spot in the rotation. Today’s starter Outman (as I reported earlier) went two strong innings allowing a hit while fellow fifth spot competitor Gio Gonzalez didn’t fare as well, giving up an earned run on two hits with a strike out.

Crosby began his quest today, (remember the whole vendetta thing?) to change the minds of his doubters, by hitting a home run in his first at bat. Crosby finished the day with one hit in two at bats with a strikeout.

Travis Buck hit a two-run homer and dark horse candidate Vin Mazzaro held the Bre-Crew scoreless in an inning of relief. Does anyone think Mazzaro has a shot at winning the fifth spot out of camp?

The game ended in a tie, three after ten innings.

The fifth starting positional battle is underway with left Josh Outman leading the way. 2 scorless innings

Gio Gonzalez is next as planned.

Bobby Crosby starts things off nicely with his first hit a big fly.

After  inning two, it is A’s 1 Brewers 0

The Oakland Athletics rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning but came up just short against the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s scored four times in the ninth inning to avoid the shut out as they ended up losing by the score of 6-4. The A’s came up just short of sweeping the league leading Angels in the series as they had won the first two games of the series.

Jack Cust, Aaron Cunningham, Kurt Suzuki, and Carlos Gonzalez all had one rbi each for the A’s at the plate. It’s too bad that it took the A’s until the ninth inning to get the offense kicking and score some runs.

The starting pitcher for the A’s was Josh Outman who took the loss. Outman gave up six hits and three runs in the game in 4 1/3 innings of action. Keith Foulke was terrible as he gave up three solo home runs in a row. Kendry Morales, Mike Napoli, and Brandon Wood went back-to-back-to-back off of Foulke in the seventh inning.

The A’s will now have a weekend series against the Seattle Mariners who are really struggling at this point in the season. A’s blog

The Oakland A’s bats were hot Monday night however the pitching staff was terrible and the A’s still lost. The A’s gave up 14 runs to the Detroit Tigers and lost the first game of the series by the score of 14-8. Talk about a let down by the pitching staff.

Starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez only lasted 1 2/3 innings as he gave up five hits and charged with nine runs. A terrible start for Gonzalez as he put the Athletics in a big hole early in the game. The bullpen for the A’s wasn’t any better however as they gave up five more runs. Josh Outman was bad as he gave up four hits and three runs, Alan Embree was charged with one run while Jeff Gray also gave up one run.

Rajai Davis and Jack Hannahan both added two rbi each for the A’s at the plate. Daric Barton, Kurt Suzuki, Eric Patterson, and Cliff Pennington all chipped in with one rbi each as well. You can’t but the blame on the offense when they scored eight runs, they were not the reason the team lost this game.

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