Oakland Athletics: Power ranking each member of the starting rotation

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SEATTLE, WA – MAY 13: Starter Mike Fiers #50 of the Oakland Athletics delivers a pitch during the first inning of a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on May 13, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

The Oakland Athletics have dealt with their fair share of difficulties this season, but their starting rotation has exceeded any and all expectations.

It certainly hasn’t been quite the 2019 season that the Oakland Athletics had hoped for. At the time of writing, the A’s currently sit dead last in the AL West with a lackluster record of 20-25.

But while many thought that the starting rotation would be the thing to hold them back, recent trends indicate that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The A’s starting rotation currently hosts a very respectable 4.36 ERA good for 16th in the majors — right around average. In fact, that ERA would give them the seventh lowest total among all American League teams placing them slightly above average.

It’s not by much, but given where the Athletics thought their rotation would be at this point, it’s certainly a positive to take away. If anything, the team’s hitting has been a cause for recent concern — although their 17-run outing Thursday against the Detroit Tigers will hopefully put a stop to that trend.

But how exactly has the A’s rotation managed to remain so reliable? Who are the five pitchers getting it done every fifth day?

Let’s take a look at each member of the Athletics starting rotation and power rank them accordingly based on their recent play. For simplicity’s sake, we will only be including the current five-man rotation which will exclude the injured Marco Estrada and the struggling Aaron Brooks who appears to have been moved to the bullpen.

OAKLAND, CA – MAY 12: Manager Bob Melvin #6 of the Oakland Athletics takes the ball from Daniel Mengden #33 taking him out of the game against the Cleveland Indians in the top of the six inning of a Major League Baseball game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on May 12, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

5. Daniel Mengden

It’s difficult to gauge Daniel Mengden’s performance seeing as he’s only made one start thus far, but that’s precisely what we’re here to do anyway.

The 26-year-old was lighting it up in Triple-A Las Vegas posting a 2.77 ERA before receiving the call to the majors. However, things did not go so well in his first outing. Mengden gave up four runs in 5.1 innings in his first start of the season taking the loss in the process.

However, there’s reason to think he could turn it around. The mustached one made 17 starts with the A’s last season — and four long outings following a bullpen opener — finishing with a very respectable 4.05 ERA.

Prior to that, Mengden made seven starts with the club in 2017 and posted a very impressive 3.14 ERA. Injuries have limited his big-league production to date, but Mengden could remain in the majors for the long haul if he impresses.

With Brooks struggling and Estrada still on the IL, Mengden should hold down the fifth spot in the rotation for the time being so long as he doesn’t get completely bombed in every outing.

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