Baseball Season

Oh yes! Here it comes! Baseball season. It's fast approaching and with it, my hope of a great year for the Oakland Athletics.

I absolutely love baseball. Why? I don't know. Let's explore this a bit...

What is it about throwing a small spherical object towards another person at a high velocity that's so fun? Perhaps it's the violence of it. I mean, comon, it's a violent act to throw a projectile towards a person, especially at a high rate of speed. But, none-the-less it's a fun pastime!

I've been an Oakland Athletics fan since I can even remember. I've collected the cards, the hats, and whatever else I could afford. I watched every game I could and it wasn't just the team as a whole, I loved the players. I loved watching each of them accomplish certain things in each game so every pitch was exciting. Then again, I'm such a stats person, I study them when I get a chance... I love stats. I love watching my favorite players do well in certain statistical categories and then go rank them against other stars in the league....

*sigh* I'm weird.

Oh well. Baseball season is coming! And not only does that mean that I'll actually be watching t.v. again but it means that Spring is coming! The days are going to be getting longer and that means I can go out more! I can play basketball, baseball, or whatever else I may want to do. I love this time of year... the mark of a fresh start!

This season the A's devastated a lot it's fans by trading away some of our favorite players; Nick Swisher, Danny Haren, Mark Kotsay, Marco Scutaro, and Jason Kendall. Well, I should say Billy Beane traded them away, but hey... he's the GM for a reason, so we've got to trust him, we just don't have to like him. :P

But seriously, we have a ton of young talent this year. I can't wait to see Barton play a full season at first base. It's going to be nice to see Travis Buck develope into one of the premier out fielders in the league, and he's definitely got the talent! It looks like Rich Harden finally has a good medical staff on board to help him out this year! haha

IF the A's can stay healthy and get some good production out of its new players, they're going to be a very dangerous team. The potential is there.

My projected starting pitchers this year if no other roster moves take place within the next few weeks:

SP: Joe Blanton
SP: Rich Harden
SP: Chad Gaudin
SP: Justin Duchscherer
SP: Lenny DiNardo?

-Blanton is a proven starter and a great innings eater. He has a solid era and can pitch far into ball games giving the bullpen great rest. He's also a quality starter throughout the year staying consistent from start to finish.

-Rich Harden is another "could have been" when unhealthy. When healthy, a top 5 pitcher in the league. He has a tremendous fast ball and change up. When his command is good he's an Ace of Aces... but when he's struggling he's very much hittable, and unfortunately he's known to have command issues at times. So, with the new training equipment and throwing program he's on, it should help his chances of staying healthy. I also hear he's been working on some new mechanics which may help with his command and risk of injury.

-Chad Gaudin was an accidental starter last year but proved he can be very effective. For a time he was right there with Dan Haren as one of the best pitchers in the league. But, injuries slowed him down and over the off-season he had surgery to correct a hip problem. This year, should he stay healthy, will tell whether or not he's as good as he's shown.

-The Duke, when healthy he's been an unstoppable set-up man. Injuries have slowed him down in the past couple of years but he's had time to recover this time around so hopefully he'll be able to really prove he belongs as a starter. We all know he has the potential and the pitches, it's just whether or not he'll be able to go the innings and stay healthy. Another upside is that with Alan Embree doing so well the A's won't feel so bad taking him from the Bullpin. So, this is his big chance!

-Lenny DiNardo was another surprise starter last year as the A's were having one of their worst injury plagued seasons they'd ever had. DiNardo stepped up and was a very very pleasant surprise showing that he could take down some of the best bats in the game. He was very good under pressure and stayed consistent. He's really the only Starter I've put down as being
questionable because of some of the rookies the A's have that have potential Ace status. And since the A's are rebuilding this year, they have just as much a chance at the starting job as DiNardo does. Besides, even if he doesn't make the starting gig, it would only make the A's already great Bullpin even better.




The next episode I'll talk about the starting position players and batting order.