By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Monday, March 21, 2016

AP photo: The San Francisco Giants Jeff Smardzija who started throws against the Oakland A’s in the first inning on Monday

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – When the Oakland Athletics arrived for spring training last month, a look at their roster didn’t strike too much fear into their opponents. Yet, here they are again, not only holding their own in the Cactus League, but offering a glimpse of possible good things to come.

After Monday, the A’s are 9-8-3 in exhibitions. As part of the evaluation process, there have been plenty of errors – 28 so far – and the pitching staff has issued 82 walks, most in the majors, and have the highest CL earned run average at 5.80.

On the upside, the Swingin’ A’s are doing just that – hitting the ball. Going into Monday’s 6-4 win over San Francisco, Oakland’s offense ranks fourth in the CL in slugging (.476), walks (69) and fewest strikeouts (135). They’re also tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.354) and doubles (42), fifth in batting (.267) and runs (118).

As per the philosophy of Moneyball, the A’s also have the second fewest stolen bases in the Cactus League with nine.

Swinging a hot bat of late is Yonder Alonso, who had his third two-hit game Saturday vs. the Giants and is hitting .440 overall. Speedster Billy Burns has hit safely in eight straight games before going 0-for-2 on Monday.

First baseman-DH Billy Butler is 6-for-15 in his last six games; Coco Crisp is 4-for-13 in his last four games after a 1-for-16 start; Danny Valencia has homered in four of his last six games; and Josh Reddick is not only 6-for-12 in his last four games, he’s reached base safely in each of his 10 spring contests.

Third baseman Matt Chapman, a non-roster invitee, is making a strong case to hang around. Chapman hit his fourth home run of the spring off Giants starter Jeff Samardzida, a two-run shot in the fifth. He’s hitting .269 after a slow start.

Outfielder Sam Fuld saw his hot hitting come to a halt after suffering a sprained left shoulder. Before the injury, Fuld was batting .417 overall – .556 (10-for-18) in his last four games. Fuld will miss the rest of spring training.

SAMARDZIJA GOES SIX
A good day in spring training can’t always be defined by numbers. Jeff Samardzija had six rocky innings Monday against Oakland, but that’s not the whole story.

Samardzija (0-3) gave up six earned runs on six hits – including two home runs. He struck out three, but still felt he was making the necessary progress at this stage of the Cactus League schedule.

“It’s spring training man! I feel good. It was a great day out there,” Samardzija said. “The ball was down and everything was where I wanted it. There were a couple of pitches I left over the plate that they took advantage of, but overall, it was exactly what I wanted out there.”

Samardzija threw 81 pitches, and called that “a good day.”

“We didn’t get through the five innings last start, so we wanted to make sure we got through five today,” Samardzija said. “I felt good, so we went out there for another one.

“You just want to get that one crossed off the books so you know you’re ready to go for the year.”

THE GAME
Oakland starter Chris Bassitt (2-0) worked 5 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and a walk. Aside from giving up Hunter Pence’s third CL home run in the fourth, it was a solid outing for Bassitt.

Hitting highlights included Khris Davis’s third double, and home runs by Matt Chapman and Chris Coghlan in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

In relief of Samardzija, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Josh Osich each threw a scoreless inning for the Giants (9-12).

Daniel Coulombe, borrowed from the A’s minor league camp, worked a scoreless ninth to earn his first spring save.

CACTUS NEEDLES: The Athletics optioned INF Tyler Ladendorf and INF Max Muncy to Triple-A Nashville. On Sunday, The A’s reassigned RHPs Ryan Brasier, Angel Castro and Eduard Santos, C Bryan Anderson, and INFs Franklin Barreto, Matt Olson and Chad Pinter to their minor league camp in Mesa. … A’s non-roster C Bruce Maxwell played for Germany in the World Baseball Classic qualifier in Mexico last week and hit .500 with a home run, walk and two RBIs in two starts behind the plate. … The Giants reassigned RHP Vin Mazzaro, LHP Ricky Romero, INF Hak-Ju Lee, OF Kyle Blanks to their minor league camp, and optioned RHP Clayton Blackburn and LHPs Ty Blach and Steven Okert.

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