A’s vs. Rays: Lineups, Pre-Game Notes and More

Published on by bentleonard18

By: Ben Leonard

The last-place Oakland Athletics (53-71) look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays (62-61) on Sunday.

They will send Kendall Graveman (6-9, 4.27) out on the hill, who has struggled mightily since the All-Star Break. July and August have not been kind to the A’s rookie pitcher, who has posted a 7.00 ERA in his six starts since the break.

Graveman will pitch on six days rest, which actually hasn’t been a harbinger of success for the rookie right-hander. He’s posted a 5.02 ERA in eight starts with more than five days of rest, while putting up a 3.79 figure with normal rest.

While he has struggled of late, Graveman doesn’t have a five-game personal losing streak solely because he’s been pitching poorly. A scuffling Oakland lineup behind Graveman has also been a factor, giving him just eleven runs of support in his last eight starts.

He’s only faced Tampa Bay once in his short career, stymieing their offense over six innings of three-hit, shutout ball this May. Perhaps the only good omen for Graveman, who has struggled to get hitters out as of late.

The Rays counter with right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who unlike Graveman is coming off a stellar outing (6 IP, 1 ER) against the first place Houston Astros. He has posted a 5.79 ERA in one career start against Oakland, albeit against a very different 2014 Athletics squad.

Odorizzi has dominated AL West squads this season, holding opposing squads to just three runs in 29.2 innings. He’s made five consecutive starts of at least six innings and one walk or less, but hasn’t won a road game since May 31st. Like Graveman, he’s struggled to get support from his team, receiving an AL-low 3.16 runs per game per nine innings.

There’s one thing that’s certain about Odorizzi: he will throw a lot of changeups. Since he picked up teammate Alex Cobb’s grip on the off-speed pitch in the 2013 offseason, 32.4% of his pitches have been changeups, second-most in the majors behind Rockies’ left-hander Jorge De La Rosa.

The A’s have really hit a rut since the All-Star Break, dropping 19 of their last 31 games. A big part of that has been their offense: they’ve averaged 3.20 runs in their last 49 games, not quite an offense dynamo.

LINEUPS:

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

UPDATE: 

Manager Bob Melvin fielded questions on Sean Doolittle, who just returned from a minor league rehab stint. Melvin explained that because “there’s a difference in intensity between going through rehab at the minor league level and actually pitching in a big league game,” he will use him “not necessarily a low-leverage situation, but not a closing situation.” Doolittle was the A’s relief ace last season, saving 22 games and posting a 2.73 ERA.

Danny Valencia is back in the lineup, batting fourth and playing third base for Oakland, after an MRI revealed tendinitis in his right knee. Melvin said he feels good enough to play today, and is “willing to DH or do whatever he can to play on a day-to-day basis.” Melvin also didn’t know if he had dealt with this same issue in the past before.

Melvin praised Valencia for solidifying the middle of the lineup, saying he was “pleasantly surprised” about his production  “for a guy we picked up off waivers.”

On Saturday, both Billy Burns and the A’s ballboy, Scott, both made incredible diving plays. When asked which was better Melvin, said that both were “pretty good plays… Certainly Scott doesn’t get the opportunity to do that all the time… It lightened up the mood…But production-wise, Burn’s was probably better.”

 

 

Leave a comment