With Defense Improved, Now It’s All About The Pitching

First and foremost, win or lose the A’s have evolved into a fun and rewarding team to follow and root for. The core of position players is special, from presumptive Rookie of the Year Jacob Wilson (nobody bats .358 any more and yet as a rookie Wilson has done just that for half a season) to potentially Wilson’s closest challenger Nick Kurtz (HRs in 5 of his last 6 games, 3 of them game-winners) to the truly phenomenal defense of Denzel Clarke (an insane 8 DRS and 10 OAA in 200 CF innings).

That doesn’t even name the dynamic Lawrence Butler (120 wRC+, 11 HR, 10 SB), the inconsistent but impactful 23 year old Tyler Soderstrom (119 wRC+, 14 HR, 10.2% BB rate), the emerging Max Muncy or the…