Oakland Athletics Are For Real

Every year before the regular MLB season begins I make predictions on who I believe will be competing in October for a World Series title. Most of the time I’m able to sneak in at least one team that no one believes will do anything. This year I did not.

On the National League side, I picked the Cubs, Nationals, D-Backs, Dodgers, and Cardinals. On the AL side, I picked the Astros, Red Sox, Indians, Yankees, and Mariners.

With plenty of baseball still to be played nothing is set in stone yet, but it appears as though the Oakland Athletics may end up being the second wild-card team in the AL.

Like I said before,  there are usually some surprises, but at the beginning of this season I would have predicted the A’s finishing below .500, and finishing in fourth or fifth place in the AL West; Certainly not in second place, trailing only the Houston Astros by a mere 2 ½ games.

ESPN analysts have even pegged the Athletics as the fourth best team in the league; which is surprising, but it really shouldn’t be since the A’s hold the fourth best record in the majors right now at 82-56.

With over a month left in the regular season, nothing is a defendant, but as it stands right now the New York Yankees would host the Athletics in the wild-card game. The A’s will host the Yankees on September 3rd-5th for a three-game set, and despite the fact that there is plenty of baseball yet to be played, I’m sure that both teams will look to make a statement in this series.

Many would credit Oakland’s success to the bat of left fielder Khris Davis. Davis is currently hitting .246, which probably seems unimpressive to most, but he also has 40 home runs (his third straight season reaching this milestone) and 105 RBI’s on the season. So I think it’s fair to say that perhaps Davis hasn’t been the most consistent hitter, but he has driven in his fair share of runs.  Let’s also not forget about the amazing season that third baseman Matt Chapman is having. Hitting an impressive .280 on the season with 22 home runs, Chapman has continued to impress offensively; and defensively, I would be surprised if he isn’t awarded with a gold glove award this season.

I believe it’s a long shot that Oakland will do anything in the playoffs. I believe that the Yankees have way too much firepower offensively for them, but I also predicted that Oakland would finish in last place in their division this season, so what do I know?

I would love to see Oakland go far this season. I think it’s good for the sport to see the underdog do big things and stand up to Goliath once in a while, and it would be great for the city of Oakland. Game one of the three games set between the A’s and Yankees will Kick off 4 PM EDT at the Coliseum and will feature the surging Trevor Cahill (5-3) for the A’s vs. Bay Area native CC Sabathia (7-5) for the Yankees.