Oakland A’s Luis Barrea makes the catch and the slide for an out on the Minnesota Twins Max Kelper at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue May 17, 2022. Barrea and the A’s battle the Los Angeles Angels Fri May 20, 2022 at the Big A in Anaheim for a three game series (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 The Oakland A’s who lost three out of four to the Los Angeles Angels the last time the two teams met last week. The A’s open a three series Friday at the Big A in Anaheim. During that last meeting Angels star Shohei Ohtani slugged two home runs.

#2 Things have changed in 2022. The A’s are in a rebuild mode. The A’s have revamped their lineup. Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Mark Canha, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Yusmeiro Petit, Starling Marte, Josh Harrison, and Yan Gomes are no longer with the club.

#3 The A’s team batting average is one point below the Mendoza line. The team payroll is about 48 Million dollars, the second-lowest in Major League Baseball.

#4 Shohei Ohtani won the MVP last year. Ohtani is a player that should be on every fan’s must-see list. Ohtani is hitting. 253 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs.

#5 For the opening game of the series the Angels will be sending starter Paul Blackburn to the hill (4-0, 1.67) and for the Angels Chase Silseth (1-0, 0.00) a 6:38 pm PDT first pitch.

Join Jeremiah Salmonson for the A’s podcasts each Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com