By: Eric He

When the All-Star Game gets under way in Cincinnati in a matter of hours, the Oakland A’s will be represented by a player who was destined to be there and another who no one thought would ever make it.

Sonny Gray is the player of destiny, the hotshot prospect who burst upon the scene and had immediate success in the major leagues, starting in a playoff elimination game in his very first season. Gray leads the American League with a 2.04 ERA through the first half, sporting a 10-3 record.

By all accounts and predictions, Gray is and will be a stud in the majors for a long, long time, his stock projecting nowhere but up as the 25-year-old reaches the prime of his career.

And then there’s Stephen Vogt, a stark contrast to Gray. Vogt was drafted in the 12th round in 2007 and worked his tail off for an opportunity to play in the majors, only to go 0-for-18 in his first season with the Rays and 0-for-14 with the A’s.

But, sticking to the theme, the 0-for-32 start did not deter Vogt from achieving success. The catcher had a strong 2014 in a platoon role and became a starter in 2015. He is hitting .287 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs in 85 games this season.

At 30 years of age, Vogt is already at his prime, and unlike Gray, whether he can sustain this performance in the future is uncertain.

Gray and Vogt may be opposites in every which way, but they have a few similarities: they are both All-Stars, and together, form a battery that is among the elite in baseball.

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Despite their first half struggles, it’s way too early to count out the A’s.

They are just 41-50 and 8.5 games back in the division, but if any team can put together a miraculous stretch of wins and get back in the chase, it would be the A’s. Remember, in 2012, Oakland was eight games back of the Texas Rangers in the division at the All-Star break, and wound up winning the AL West on the season’s final day.

But it won’t work like magic. The A’s will have to rectify whatever issues they had in the first half, and fast.

The bullpen has been a concern with. With closer Sean Doolittle suffering a setback in rehab, the A’s are having trouble holding down leads for Tyler Clippard, who has done a fine job filling in for Doolittle with a 2.43 ERA, but the A’s would like to get him some more save opportunities.

Errors have also proven costly. The A’s led the majors with 82 errors in the first half, 22 more than the next highest team, and shortstop Marcus Semien has the most in the league with 28.

Defensive miscues have cost the A’s in several games this year, and it’s part of the reason why Oakland has lost 22 games this season by one run. It also explains their +44 run differential, which is fourth in the AL despite the fact that they have the worst record in the AL. That stat alone proves the A’s are fully capable of competing against any team, scoring runs and playing in tight games.

It just seems to be little mistakes here and there that derail them, turning a close win into a heartbreaking loss and a should-be winning record into a losing one.

Can the A’s reverse course on a forgettable first half and make the postseason for the fourth consecutive year? It isn’t impossible, but their work is surely cut out for them.