What the Oakland Athletics Need To Do To Win The World Series
There’s no reason to believe the Oakland Athletics can’t win the World Series.
William Hill Sports Book in Las Vegas lists the A’s at 9-to-1 (bet $100 to win $900) odds to win the whole thing, which is better than the other three wild-card teams.
But in order to do so, the A’s will do these things to be the last team standing.
Limit Mistakes
Runs are a premium come this time of the year, and the A’s cannot afford to make the defensive mistakes that put extra pressure on the mentally taxed pitching staff.
The A’s were second to last in the Majors in errors, committing 111 of them — ahead of the Cleveland Indians’ 116 errors.
Josh Donaldson accounted for 23 of the miscues, but despite committing nearly 21 percent of the A’s errors, he remains an elite third baseman. Donaldson’s DRS (defensive runs saved) is plus-20, meaning Donaldson saved 20 more runs than the average MLB third baseman.
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Not every player has Donaldson’s innate ability to make more good plays than bad, however.
Jed Lowrie, for example, owns a DRS of minus-9, meaning errors by Lowrie tend to prove more costly.
Pitchers also have to help themselves out.
The A’s pitching staff has been rock solid throughout the regular season, finishing second in walks allowed. Like any pitching staff though, walks and bad outings will take place, so the A’s pitching staff will need to find the zone, attack it and get the ball in play.
If the A’s were scoring runs, none of this would be that big of an issue. But given the pronounced offensive struggle that has been seen throughout the past two months, the A’s can ill-afford spotting extra baserunners especially when every run counts.
Control the Bases
With it increasingly unlikely that the A’s will pitch 12 perfect games in the postseason, they will have to do their part in limiting baserunner damage.
Sep 2, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics catcher Geovany Soto (17) throws the ball on a ground out by the Seattle Mariners during the eighth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
The A’s have struggled this season in throwing out batters, and teams are likely to exploit it in search of the small edge needed to be successful.
All-Star catcher Derek Norris has only thrown out 17 percent of runners (12 of 72), and John Jaso isn’t much better, throwing out 11 percent of them (4 of 36).
Stephen Vogt has the best arm of the three catchers from last year’s team, throwing out three batters this season with a career-rate of 39 percent (13 of 33). Vogt has been forced out of the catcher’s box due to injury, leaving him to left-field and first-base duty.
The A’s purchased Geovany Soto from the Texas Rangers earlier this year, giving them another strong arm behind the plate.
Soto has proven to be a capable Vogt replacement. Soto has thrown out nine batters in 17 attempts this season.
By limiting the number of runs created via the stolen base, the A’s will be doing themselves a favor in the playoffs.
Get Lucky
The A’s will need base hits like this one by Lowrie in order to be successful.
It’s terrible to think that the A’s will have to rely on luck to win the World Series, but unfortunately, it’s better to be lucky than good.
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The playoffs are a sprint following the marathon of the regular season. The sample size is too small for statistical advantages to make a difference, so like it or not, luck will be a factor.
There are plenty of things that the A’s can’t control, and in the postseason those small shifts in the wind, bad hops and small flares into left field can make the difference between a long playoff run and a short stay.
The A’s can control putting the ball in play, and once that happens, anything can happen.
Every team that wins the World Series needs a little bit of luck to hoist the trophy in the end. Why should the A’s expect it to be any different?
Be the A’s
When the A’s are playing loose and carefree, they’re an incredibly fun team to watch. The swagger was gone in these past two months, and the A’s weren’t themselves. The fun-loving, bearded castaways were mean mugging, looking like a team unaccustomed to immense pressure of expectation and one afraid to lose.
But the pressure is off, and now the A’s can now focus on one goal: Win it all.
Just listen to how skipper Bob Mevlin sounded during the team’s celebration after clinching the final wild-card spot:
He sounded relieved, but determined. That’s a good thing.
If the A’s return to the loose and carefree team, then there’s no reason why the old first-half form couldn’t return, which would mean a championship.