Three Keys For Facing The Athletics: Get Yelich Hitting, Make The Starters Work

For the first time in a while, the Athletics are a source of serious intrigue in the league, but inauspiciously, not much of that intrigue is born from their quality of play. Over the last decade, the A’s have seemingly locked into a perpetual Sisyphean state of a churning rebuild, so much so that it’s difficult to associate the franchise with having a glory day period that includes three consecutive World Series victories from 1972-74. While the Athletics franchise still possesses those gilded memories, they are now unmoored from the city that’s hosted them since 1968. As the Oakland faithful bid their team a tearful goodbye, the A’s set into their temporary limbo state, packed with intriguing talent. The dominant righty closer Mason Miller, robust powerhouse slugger Tyler Soderstrom, and the newly extended Lawrence Butler, who figures to emerge into veteran-hood in a few years when the A’s permanently plant roots in their new home of Las Vegas. 

With all the disarray that has defined them in the last few seasons, you’d be forgiven for missing that they’ve shed their punchless ways. The offense to this point in the season is primarily anchored by the aforementioned Soderstrom, who possesses a beastly 1.101 OPS through their first 19 games. The record pretty solidly reflects their run differential, one game below .500 and -5 respectively, but this time last year that run diff sat at a glaring -15. As of Thursday evening, the Astros are in the surreal position of looking up at the A’s in their division. The mix of high-ceiling youngsters and the infusion of veteran influence like Luis Severino and Gio Urshela combine for a compelling alchemy to help shape the vision for what the A’s will eventually be. 

The Crew is emerging from winning another interleague series against the Tigers. In taking two of three, the Brewers corrected course after a couple of devastating bullpen meltdowns cost them a road series against the Diamondbacks. The Brewers will enter the series against the Athletics as one of only six teams left in the league who have yet to be shut out this season, helping winnow that number by delivering the Tigers their first shutout in 2025. The Crew sits just one game above .500 and one game back of a very convincing-looking Chicago Cubs team in the NL Central. This is in part thanks to some fantastic starting pitching, including newcomer Quinn Priester, who has been sharp in his two appearances with Milwaukee, and late free agent signing Jose Quintana, who is carrying over a torrid second half with the Mets last year, with an unbelievable beginning to his tenure with Milwaukee.

Three Keys For Taking Down The Athletics

1. Competence and Confidence: It’s not hard to see that the Athletics have some sturdy pieces on their roster that should be entering their prime the next time the A's pry open that competitive window, but they aren’t there yet. The Crew's studied, measured approach and caution around the more self-assured veterans might be enough to give Milwaukee the edge in this series. 

2. A resurgent Christian Yelich: Yelich broke an 0-19 streak on Tuesday and went yard with a 404-foot blast to center the next day. It’s been difficult to know which version of Yelich will emerge season-to-season ever since fouling a ball off his kneecap in 2019, ending an MVP-worthy season. Since then, it seems like elite-level production has been off the table for Yeli, but his heart and determination remain. He’s put up a decent 5.7 WAR combined over the last two seasons, but is off to a glacial pace to begin 2025. If he can position himself on the positive side of production, he’ll be a major help to his offense-starved team. 

3. Stave off J.T. Ginn and outlast Luis Severino: Athletics righty J.T. Ginn is fewer than 40 innings into his major league career but possesses some troublesome stuff. His chase rate and strikeout percentage are well above average, and he’s near the top of the league in ground ball percentage. Some bad looks in the infield has his WHIP sitting at 1.313, which indicates that he’s doing a fairly decent job of stifling exit velocity. Meanwhile, former Yankees and Mets arm Luis Severino is pitching fairly well in his first year out of New York. Contrary to Ginn, Severino’s relatively low 4.01 ERA seems largely thanks to good luck, as hitters are seeing his stuff and hitting it hard. Still, Severino is a reliable innings eater, averaging 6.1 innings per start. If the Crew can resist hacking at the wily stuff of Ginn and chip away at Severino, and perhaps exploit his lagging fastball, the Crew could put up a solid enough lead that makes their struggling bullpen feel a bit more at ease to wrap things up. 

Predictions: Predicting sweeps is never wise, but they do happen, so let’s be bold and say the Crew takes all three here. Why? They can do it because the Athletics seem like a great team to make an example of.