by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are enjoying an off-day Thursday but will return to action Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays.The Rays come to down with a record of 59-61 and are in fourth place in the AL East.They are 8 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the division and they still have a slight chance to make the playoff.

Kevin Cash at age 37 is the youngest manager in the Major Leagues and is the youngest manager in Rays’ history. He took over from Joe Maddon who left to take over the reins for the Chicago Cubs. Cash has done a good job. Their success is due to a good starting rotation and a strong bullpen. The Rays do not have a lot of power going for them, but they stay competitive and they are just two games under the .500 mark.

The starting rotation is made up of LHP Drew Smyly and Righties Nate Karns, Chris Archer. Jake Odorizzi and Erasmo Ramirez. Archer and Ramirez have ten wins each so far. Smyly is 0-2, but he was on the DL much of the year. Smyly is slated to pitch for the Rays Friday night. The Rays have two lefties in the bullpen, Xavier Cedeno, and Jake McGee. McGee has recorded six saves so far. The right-handed pitchers in the pen are Matt Andriese, Alex Colome, Steve Geltz, Brandon Gomes and closer Brad Boxberger. Boxberger has been outstanding and has twenty-nine saves to his credit.

The catching chores are split between Curt Casali and Rene Rivera. The big star in the infield is third baseman, Evan Longoria. Longo is hitting .277 with thirteen homers and fifty-five RBIs. James Loney is at first. Loney’s average is down and he has never been a great power, hitter. Logan Forsythe handles second base and Asdrubal Cabrera is at short. Tim Beckham is the utilityman. Brandon Guyer gets most of the starts in left field. Kevin Kiermaier is the regular center fielder and right field is held down by Grady Sizemore and Daniel Nava. Former A’s catcher, John Jaso, is the designated hitter.

The A’s, fresh off a two-game sweep of the Los Angels Dodgers, are sending Chris Bassitt to the mound. Bassitt has a record of 1-4, but the A’s have failed to give him any run support. He has an ERA of 2-60 and a WHIP of 1.01. Kendall Graveman and Sonny Gray will pitch Saturday and Sunday. The A’s may not have Coco Crisp or Brett Lawrie available for the series. Both players are day-to-day. Crisp has ankle and hip soreness while Lawrie has a lat problem. Ike Davis just went on the 15-day DL. Mark Canha filled in nicely for Davis at first base and had six hits in his last two games and he should see more playing time. Billy Burns continues to play well in center for Oakland and his batting average is very close to the .300 mark and he is a definite Rookie of the Year candidate. Danny Valencia has played well at third base and Eric Sogard will fill in at second until Lawrie gets back. Jake Smolinski, recalled from Nashville Wednesday, should get some playing time in left and right field duties will be handled by Josh Reddick. Stephen Vogt and Josh Phegley continue to do a great job catching. The big problem with the A’s this year has been the bullpen. The pen failed Tuesday night but the A’s rallied to win. Drew Pomeranz closed out the Wednesday game against the Dodgers. The A’s need more consistency from them. Pretty sure that Billy Beane will be working to fix this problem in the off-season.

The A’s have six weeks left in the season. They probably will not make the playoffs this year, but Bob Melvin will not let them quit. The A’s can play the spoiler role. The Rays still have a chance and they will not be quitting either. Should be a good series.