The A’s Stretch Rotation

By Carey from the East Bay

As we enter “the home stretch” of the baseball season and enter the pennant races, who would have thought that the Oakland A’s would be in first place in the AL West without two of the three “Aces”? In the offseason, Billy Beane decided to deal starting pitchers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder to the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals respectively. At one point this spring, it appeared that Barry Zito, the remaining “Ace”, might also be dealt to another team. Although the Huddy and Mulder departures were unpopular moves among many fans, it hasn’t hurt the A’s pitching staff this season thus far. The A’s management has relied heavily on their young players with their pitching staff being no exception. What remains to be seen is whether the A’s young starting rotation can pull through down the stretch.

Rich Harden (10-5) has already been placed on the disabled list twice earlier this season and is currently having shoulder problems, making him doubtful for his September 1 st start against the division rival Angels. Danny Haren is staying healthy and remains very competitive with Barry Zito so far this season (180-2/3 innings pitched vs. 183-1/3, 131 strike outs vs. 134, 3.99 vs. 3.49 ERA, 11-10 vs. 12-10 record). Haren, like Zito, started the season off slowly, but has since picked up the pace pitching lights out in the month of June. Saarloos also started the season unsteadily, but has improved his record from 1-4 in May to 9-6 in August. Saarloos, however, has had blister problems on his pitching hand that affected his position in the starting rotation in early August. Blanton was hot in August with a 0.95 ERA for the month and an 8-9 overall record.

Danny Haren, Rich Harden, Kirk Saarloos, and Joe Blanton have a total combined experience of eight (8) years in the majors. Danny Haren (acquired in the Mark Mulder, Kiko Calero, Deric Barton trade) pitched 8-1/3 total innings in the 2004 post season when he played for the runner-up St. Louis Cardinals. Rich Harden pitched only 1-1/3 innings in the A’s short 2003 post-season stint. Neither youngsters Saarloos nor Blanton have any postseason experience. Will the young pitching rotation, led by veteran Barry Zito, have enough gas left to get the A’s into the 2005 post season?

The A’s starting pitching staff is the key to making the playoffs this season. If Harden’s injury problems continue to plague him, will Joe Kennedy (acquired in the Eric Byrnes trade with Colorado) be able to step up into the starting rotation at this late date? Will workhorse Zito and shadow Haren be able to shoulder the team through September? Saarloos and Blanton must continue strong starts for the remainder of the season going deep into games in order for the A’s to have a shot at the playoffs. It will be close, but my prediction is that the A’s will squeak into the playoffs thanks to their young starting rotation.

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