by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Rich Hill gets a look from the trainer at his finger that has a blister against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday July 17th at the Oakland Coliseum

The Oakland A’s meet the AL Central Division leaders for a three-game set starting Friday night in Cleveland.The A’s are 9-4 to start the second half of the season and have won five of the last six games. The A’s starting rotation, although beset by injury all season long, is beginning to go deep into games and the A’s are getting strong performances from Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, and Sonny Gray, to a degree. Rich Hill has been sidelined by a blister on his middle finger. Hill is scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Tribe but only if he is 100% healthy. Righty Jesse Hahn pitched very well in his last outing but was sent back to Nashville. He, however, might be recalled to join the rotation. Dillon Overton, a lefty, will pitch on Saturday.

The Indians, under manager Terry Francona, own a 4 and 1/2 game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. The Indians have a strong rotation led by Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Josh Tomlin, Trevor Bauer, and Corey Kluber. The A’s won’t face Salazar and Carrasco this weekend, but they will have their work cut out for them as they face Bauer, Tomlin and former Cy Young winner, Corey Kluber.

The A’s offense has been rolling. It seems like all the pieces are coming together for Oakland. Josh Reddick is healthy. Khris Davis has twenty-five homers, and he leads the club in RBIs.  Shortstop Marcus Semien is coming of age this year. His fielding is vastly improved and he has twenty-one dingers to his credit. Danny Valencia, who was replaced at third by Ryon Healy, is playing first, and when he not in the field, he is the designated hitter. Billy Butler, who has been playing sparingly, has come through with several timely extra base hits to help the Oakland offense. Coco Crisp, Jake Smolinski, Jed Lowrie, Yonder Alonso and Stephen Vogt have all made contributions to the Oakland attack.

The Indians have some solid players, too.  Their second baseman, Jason Kipnis, is an All-Star. Kipnis is hitting .283 with sixteen homers and fifty-two ribbies. The shortstop, Francisco Lindor, was a runner-up to Carlos Correa of the Astros as Rookie of the Year last year. Lindor owns a batting average of .302, twelve homers, and fifty RBIs. First baseman Mike Napoli has rebounded from a couple of poor seasons with Boston and Texas and has twenty-two bombs to his credit and sixty-eight RBIs. Carlos Santana is the DH. Santana and Napoli are available to handle the catching chores as Yan Gomes is out with an injury, and the Indians are reportedly hot on the trail to acquire Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Bucks. Lonnie Chisenhall, Rajai Davis, a former Athletic, and Tyler Naquin will handle the outfield chores.

The A’s will face Trevor Bauer Friday night. Bauer is 7-4 for the year and owns an ERA of 3.65. On Saturday, Josh Tomlin(10-3 3.48 ERA) will pitch and Corey Kluber (9-8, 3.44 ERA0 goes on Sunday.  Graveman and Overton will pitch on Friday and Saturday for Oakland. For the Sunday finale, it will be either Rich Hill or Sonny Gray.

The trade winds are swirling around both teams. The Indians are going to be buyers. They need a catcher and a third baseman. Their third baseman, the veteran Juan Uribe, is slumping. Yan Gomes, the regular catcher, is out with an injury and Michael Brantley is on the DL. The A’s, reported to be sellers, will have to make some decisions regarding key players. The A’s are playing much better since the return of Josh Reddick. Reddick will be a free agent at the end of the season. The A’s could trade him for prospects. They have done this with other players in the past. They could, however, wait to the end of the season and then offer Reddick a one-year qualifying offer or they could sign him to a new contract. Rich Hill may also be on the move. Hill is thirty-six years old and doesn’t figure in the A’s long-term plans.  The A’s have shuttled Jesse Hahn, Daniel Menden and Dillon Overton between Nashville and Oakland, and those three look like they may be the real deal next season.They have pitched well but have not been consistent. Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman, at the moment, are the A’s number one and number two stars in the rotation. The phones are ringing in Cleveland and Oakland as well as all the other teams as the August 1st deadline will be here this coming Monday.  Stay tuned.