By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s, suffering from their worst season since 1979, have 21 games left on the schedule. They are on the road for two with the Texas Rangers and four with the Astros in Houston. They return home for three with the playoff-bound Seattle Mariners and three with the National League first-place New York Mets. Oakland travels to LA for three with the Angels and three more with the Mariners. The A’s finish the season hosting the Angels for the final three games of the year. The A’s are 51-90 so far this season. They must win twelve of the last 21 games to avoid 100 losses. It will not be easy as they play three teams heading for the playoffs; the Astros, the Mariners, and the Mets.

The schedule has them playing two against the Rangers for the final time this season. The guys that hang out at Globe Life Field are tied with the Angels for third place in the AL West. Both teams own a 61-69 record. Neither team has lived up to expectations this year. Both teams have fired their manager midway through the year. The Angels dismissed Joe Maddon and replaced him with Phil Nevins. The Rangers fired Chris Woodward and named Tony Beasly as the interim manager. Both the Angels and Rangers spent heavily to improve the team. Money did not do the trick.
On the other hand, Oakland traded away several of its top players to reduce payroll. Gone are Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Mark Canha, Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea, Jake Diekman, Sergio Romo, Starling Marte, Yan Gomes, and Josh Harrison. The A’s released three veterans midway through the season. Gone are Jed Lowrie, Stephen Piscotty, and Elvis Andrus. The A’s have used 60 players, including 28 rookies and 19 rookie pitchers. They have the worst record in baseball. Their team batting average is .217. The A’s are trying out players that they think will be on the roster in 2023. They have two veterans that may be shopped over the winter. They are catcher Sean Murphy and outfielder Ramon Laureano.

So, this brings us to Tuesday night’s game with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers gave huge contracts to Marcus Semien and Corey Seager before the start of the 2022 season. The Rangers were hoping to challenge the Astros for the AL West crown. The Rangers forgot to get pitching. They have guys who can hit the ball out of the park but need pitching. To contend, Texas, like all the teams in the playoffs race, needs three basic things: good hitting, good pitching, and good defense. It’s called strength up the middle. The Rangers have several core players to build around. They include Nate Lowe, Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Jonah Heim. These guys can play. Rookie Bubba Thompson is hitting .296 and could be a player for Texas.

The A’s will be looking to see if players like Nick Allen, Cristian Pache, Jonah Bride, Dermis Garcia, Cody Thomas, Skye Bolt, and Cal Stevenson fit into their plans for 2023. Will the A’s keep veteran players like Tony Kemp, Chad Pinder, Sheldon Neuse, and Seth Brown? So, let’s look at the starting pitchers for the next two games.

On Tuesday, The A’s will send rookie lefty Ken Waldichuk to the hill to face the Rangers. Waldichuk will be making his third start. He is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. In his last start against a very powerful Atlanta Brave lineup, Waldichuk went five and 1/3rd innings. He allowed three hits and three runs. His only problem was that two of the hits left the park. The Braves won the game 7-3. The Rangers will send their rookie lefty Cole Ragans to the mound. Ragans is 0-2 with a 3.80 ERA. Ragans has yet to win his first game in the bigs.

On Wednesday, lefty J.P.Sears will be looking to rebound from his tough outing against the Chicago White Sox last week. Sears and Waldichuk came to Oakland in the trade that sent Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the New York Yankees. Sears lasted two innings and allowed eight hits and six runs. Three of the hits were home runs. Righty Dane Dunning will pitch for Texas. Dunning has faced the A’s twice this year. On May 29th, he went four and 1/3rd inning and allowed seven hits and three runs. Dunning did not figure in the decision. He beat the A’s on August 18th. Dunning went six innings in that game and allowed four hits and two runs. He got credit for the win.

The Rangers want to finish in third place in the AL West. The A’s want to get any wins to avoid losing 100 or more games. The Rangers are 11-6 against the A’s this year. The odds favor the Rangers, but as they say in baseball; “You never know”