Oakland

[DoubleOffTheWall]

This was an entertaining albeit frustrating series, with a great finish.

 

Observing Oakland, I gotta say - that team is tough.

 

It seemed like every sharply ball we hit was gobbled up by their corner infielders, and that their outfielders could get to everything (Gentry almost catching that Ianetta walk off homer was a good example).

 

Every at bat was very calculated as well. I remember how Jaso just broke down Frieri during that 9th inning bomb in game 1. 

 

While the angels almost took all 3 games, they are going to need to have that same type of attention to detail and doggedness to keep up with Oakland this season. 

[Blarg]

Their middle infield bobbled a lot of plays

[Reveille1984]

With as many nice plays that they made, they were actually pretty mediocre defensively in the series. 

 

It's called actually having a bullpen and great pitching. 

[Homebrewer]

Donaldson made Freese look pretty bad when comparing the two, both with the glove and the bat.

I wasn't expecting Freese to be great, but I wasn't expecting him to be this bad.

[James]

The Oakland BP is far from great. I don't see the Angels is being that far behind. There is a need for another quality arm down there. Dissapointing results but we played them well overall.

[fan_since79]

We're pretty close to Oakland. They have a lot more of the 'grit' factor, though, and they play the game with more obvious intensity than we do.

 

They also seem to have a boatload of left-handed hitters.

[sneaky_flute]

The Oakland BP is far from great. I don't see the Angels is being that far behind. There is a need for another quality arm down there. Dissapointing results but we played them well overall.

What? Their pitching staff is their biggest strength. Their position players probably have the lowest floor of anyone in the division, though. 

[Stradling]

Donaldson made Freese look pretty bad when comparing the two, both with the glove and the bat.

I wasn't expecting Freese to be great, but I wasn't expecting him to be this bad.

I didn't think he looked too bad defensively this series. Edited April 17, 2014 by Stradling

[DW711]

I didn't think he looked too bad defensively this series.

 

He screwed up a couple plays, but it happens. One allowed Pujols to be up 3rd in the 9th (and he singled Trout to 3rd).

 

He'll end up with 12-15 errors.

[Halohappy]

We really just missed sweeping them at home, not to mention we came back and pushed it to extra innings two of the nights when we could of just rolled over. I don't see them being any better than us. They won but they didnt beat us down.  We have a lot more going for us than we had last year at this time.

[James]

What? Their pitching staff is their biggest strength. Their position players probably have the lowest floor of anyone in the division, though. 

Pretty sure we scored a few runs off their bullpen to force extra innings. They aren't all that special. Better than the Angels pen? Sure, but it isn't leaps and bounds better.

[WallyWorld]

In terms of on-field ability, I think it's pretty close.  Angels slightly better in some areas (offense), Oakland better in others (BP).

 

The real difference to me is that their players are much smarter.  They work counts, know how to take advantage of situations, attack hitters, etc. I don't want to hijack this thread and make it about coaching/managing, but the difference between the way the teams go about their business is startling when you see it side by side.

[Homebrewer]

I didn't think he looked too bad defensively this series.

There were some balls hit past him down the line that (imo) he really didn't even try to make a play on. One was last night.

He only half bent towards it, without really bothering to stretch or dive at it. Balls that (again imo) that you have to try to knock down and keep in the infield, even if you can't make a throw.

[Stradling]

He also made that nice play coming in on that ball and making a pretty nice off balance throw.

[Homebrewer]

As Chuck mentioned this week, something isn't right with him. His body language isn't good at all. Maybe he is hurting and doesn't want anyone to know? Doesn't bode well this early in the season. What's he going to look like in July-Aug?

[Homebrewer]

He also made that nice play coming in on that ball and making a pretty nice off balance throw.

Moving forward he has looked better, but moving side to side he looks really slow.

[Lou]

 

 

The real difference to me is that their players are much smarter.  They work counts, know how to take advantage of situations, attack hitters, etc. I don't want to hijack this thread and make it about coaching/managing, but the difference between the way the teams go about their business is startling when you see it side by side.

 

Last night's pitch counts:

 

A's = 188 

Angels = 189 

 

Tuesday:

 

A's = 187

Angels = 191

 

5 pitch difference over 2 games.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Lou

[tennischmp]

Pretty sure we scored a few runs off their bullpen to force extra innings. They aren't all that special. Better than the Angels pen? Sure, but it isn't leaps and bounds better.

Their ERA is 2.72 with a WHIP of 1.06 in 53.1 innings.

[Lou]

Their middle infield bobbled a lot of plays

 

 A's  made 4 errors in the series. 0 for the Angels

[Stradling]

If you haven't noticed, the Angels are taking more pitches this year, or it sure seems like they are.

[Spirit]

Last night's pitch counts:

 

A's = 188 

Angels = 189 

 

Tuesday:

 

A's = 187

Angels = 191

 

5 pitch difference over 2 games.

 

 

It almost seems like you're trying to point out that there was some failed logic involved in a prior observation. 

[moccasin]

The one thing I've noticed watching the A's these years, is that they almost never hit into double plays.

It seems like everyone of them is a fly ball hitter, and they never kill rallies on their own. They make pitchers work for 3 individual outs, every time.

When they grabbed Callsaspo last year, it furthered this point. One thing I always liked about Callaspo, was that despite being average in power, he rarely hit into double plays and diminished baserunners.

 

The Angels should take notes and learn a bit.

[Troll Daddy]

We're pretty close to Oakland. They have a lot more of the 'grit' factor, though, and they play the game with more obvious intensity than we do.

They also seem to have a boatload of left-handed hitters.

I have to call BS on the intensity comment.

[arch stanton]

Their ERA is 2.72 with a WHIP of 1.06 in 53.1 innings.

And they have more blown saves than saves and gave up leads on back-to-back nights.

[HaloMagic]

The Oakland BP is far from great. I don't see the Angels is being that far behind.

Mr Dipoto?