The Oakland Athletics aren't going to win the AL West this year, I thought they were, but after watching a couple games it is clear they wont. They don't hit for enough power and have an over rated bullpen that includes 4 lefties last time i checked. Oddly enough, the things that will hurt them over the long haul will actually help them today... or at least I hope..
The A's won't have a guy that hits .300 or even comes close to hitting 35 HR's this year.. They don't have a superstar offensive player... Today against the Twins, this will be a good thing. Carl Pavano is a pitcher that relies on throwing strikes and getting hitters out with movement. Teams that take what he gives them usually do pretty well against him... This is something the A's do very well, almost by default, because they don't really have anyone that does anything extraordinary. Here are the career numbers of today's lineup off Pavano...
All those at-bats off him and only 1 HR, but this is what I was talking about, they take what you give them... They should get their fair share hits today against Pavano, hopefully they will string them together and give Anderson some early runs...
As i said earlier, I think the A's bullpen isn't very good this year. They got Balfour in the offseason and he hasn't been very impressive. Baily, Harden, and Wuertz are all hurt, so who does that leave them with?? Four Lefty's that all throw from different arm angles and windups... Usually this is a pretty dumb idea, but against the Twins who have 4 good hitting Lefty's in their lineup (Span, Mauer, Morneau, and Thome) it is actually a good thing.. We might not even see these guys if young left-hander Brett Anderson throws a gem, which he is very capable of..
The A's barrage of lefty's and past success off Pavano should lead them to a win today...
No one baseball game is a lock, so bet accordingly...
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Royalty Play (Friday, April 8th)
Reply With Quote