The Athletics are back on the field tonight with a new series already waiting for them. After a 12-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday, they open a four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels in Sacramento, and Gage Jump gets the ball first.
That is why this matchup is getting attention now: the Athletics have mapped out the whole week, with Jeffrey Springs on Friday night, J.T. Ginn on Saturday night and Jack Perkins on Sunday afternoon, while the Angels have not yet said who will start any of their games. Jump, 23, has given the club a useful early look, posting a 3.09 ERA in four starts, and the question for Oakland’s side is whether that holds up over a longer stretch.
The immediate draw is not hard to see. Mike Trout has 17 home runs, Zack Neto has 14 homers and 11 steals, and Jo Adell has 10 home runs, so even a team described as one of the worst in the sport can still bring damage with the bat. Kurt Suzuki, in his first year managing the Angels, also has three strong pitching options to sort through, led by Jose Soriano atop the rotation, Reid Detmers after moving back into a starting role, and Walbert Urena, who has supplied good production as a rookie right-hander.
That is the contradiction hanging over the series. The Angels sit in the cellar of the AL West and have been run badly over the past few years, leaving them stuck between contending and rebuilding, yet this group is not easy to dismiss on one night or even over four. The Athletics, meanwhile, enter with their rotation plans in place and a chance to test whether Jump’s early numbers can travel from a short sample to the middle of a series that runs through Sunday.
What comes next is straightforward and important enough for a short week: if Jump gives the Athletics a clean opening, they can hand off to Springs, Ginn and Perkins with a plan already in motion. If he does not, the Angels’ still-unnamed pitching order could matter more than their record suggests.
