Top 5 Things To Be Excited For During Rest Of The A's Season
If Oakland Athletics fans haven't realized it already, this season isn't going to lead to anything but a longer off season for the Green and Gold.
With that said, there are still some things happening during the rest of the season for A's fans to get excited about.
Here are the top 5 things for A's fans to look forward to:
1. The Trade Deadline:
At this point during the past few seasons, the Athletics were more buyers than sellers. This year is going to be completely different. The trade deadline for the A's is going to be trade, trade, trade.
They have already made a big trade getting a couple prospects for Scott Kazmir. The next few players who you can expect to go are Ben Zobrist, Tyler Clippard, and Eric O'Flaherty.
Some fans will be disappointed to see more players leave the team, but let's be honest, these players aren't coming back once their contracts are up, so why not get as much as possible for them?
Zobrist, Clippard, and O'Flaherty are all guys who can bring in high level prospects. It will be exciting to see the Athletics future arriving during this week.
2. Watching Young Pitching Continue To Develop:
The casual fan probably doesn't care about young pitchers developing, but for the avid Oakland fan, it's one of the best parts of watching the Athletics.
The A's have always had success developing young pitching. This year, Kendall Graveman and Jesse Hahn are the two pitchers Oakland planned to develop. Both Graveman and Hahn have had ups and downs, but overall, they are having good rookie seasons.
Chris Bassitt is another young pitcher the A's are looking to develop for years to come. In just nine appearances, his ERA is 2.94.
As always, the future of the Athletics pitching staff is bright.
3. Playing Spoiler To Playoff Contending Teams In The West.
How does a baseball team stay motivated for the last couple remaining months of the season when they are already out of contention?
They attempt to ruin other team's playoff hopes.
As of right now, the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Texas Rangers are all A.L. West teams which have hopes of making the playoffs.
The Athletics will see all three of those teams plenty more times throughout the season. If they can contribute to one or even two of those teams not making the playoffs, it will keep the team motivated and the game a little more exciting for fans.
4. The Possibility Of Keeping The San Francisco Giants Out Of The Playoffs.
I know what you're thinking, how in the world can the A's do that when they only play the Giants three more times.
It's not the amount of games which will be a huge factor, it's when the games are. The Athletics and Giants will face off again during the last week of the regular season.
There's no doubt that the Giants will be in a playoff race at the end of the season. As the standings sit right now, San Francisco trails the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game in the National League West. They do sit in the top spot of the Wild Card standings, but are just four games from falling out of it.
If either of those races come down to the last week of the season, you can bet the series between San Francisco and Oakland will be the most exciting and entertaining one yet.
5. The Ninth Inning Of Game 162.
What's so special about the ninth inning of game 162? Well, the instant that third out is made, this dreadful season will be over.
It has been a really tough year for the Athletics and its fans. To have the success the team has had over the past few seasons and then fight for fourth place this season is rough.
The fans have had to endure a horrid bullpen, an even worse defense, and injuries to fan favorites Sean Doolittle and Coco Crisp.
Once the season is over, it's on to the next one. The hope is the young pitchers and position players like Marcus Semien and Billy Burns will continue to develop. If they can, it will just take a few pieces to become a contender once again.