MLB Opening Day Treat

The A's just finished playing their first two regular season games, and outside of Tokyo I'm not sure there were many people actually watching. That's because they were played in the evening in Japan, which for A's fans worked out to the games beginning at 3am and 2am respectively. Being that I have the latest in video technology (DVR) I was able to see both games at my leisure and before they could be ruined by a ticker or the internet. I watched them over breakfast and saw a mix of what the team was last season, and what they hope to be this season. Allow me to explain. Game 1 was a look back at how the A's played last year. Brandon McCarthy on the hill pitching quality baseball and holding the Mariners to only one run in his seven innings of work. The problem was that they were facing King Felix. The King was just as stingy giving up only one run in his day. The A's had a few chances to break down the door, but Felix just keep slamming it shut in their faces. The A's eventually gave up the winning runs in extra innings from their questionable bullpen and dropped this one 3-1. Game two was eerily simialr in that it was again a pitchers duel, but this time it was Bartolo Colon with the pitching mastery. Colon went 8 strong innings and gave up only 3 hits and striking out six. His only mistake was a Justin Smoak home run that actually gave Seattle a lead in the top of the 7th inning. Not to be outdone, rookie Cespedes got into the act and slammed his first MLB home run. It was a laser shot that never got more than a few feet over the outfield fence. They would go back to back as Josh Reddick got his first round tripper in the green and gold for a 3-1 lead. Johnny Gomes provided the final margin as he dropped a bomb to deep left center field on a solo shot in the 8th. There were three main questions that the A's needed to answer in order to determine how this season would go. 1. Starting pitching- With Brandon McCarthy taking over the #1 spot there was a lot to be addressed as McCarthy has never had a winning season in the major leagues. Last season he was 9-9 although his ERA was respectable and he did end the year with five complete games. He pitched well in this outing. He was very efficient and only made one real mistake which was a bomb given up to Dustin Ackley. 2. Relief Pitching- Over the last several years it could be argued that this was the A's true strong spot. Andrew Bailey closing the door in the 9th, Balfour & Fuentes setting up to go along with up and comer Faustino De Los Santos. Now Balfour is closing (never won that job before in his career) and the back end of their bullpen is suspect. It just so happens that the pen allowed 2 runs in the extras to give up the win. 3. Hitting/Run Production- The A's haven't been strong at the plate since they last made a playoff appearance in the early 2000's. Billy Beane went about correcting that issue over the winter by giving Cuban prospect Yoenis Cespedes $9M annually. Add to the mix Seth Smith, Johnny Gomes, and Josh Reddick and those days may be coming to an end as 3 out of the 4 (Cespedes, Reddick, and Gomes) all homered in the second game. Over the course of the first two games, the A's may not have answered any questions, but they did get a good glimpse of what the before and after pictures of their team may look like. If they can get any type of decent production out of the hitters that have been mentioned it will be a huge boon for this team because of the three guys at the top of the order, they should be able to score some runs. Jemile Weeks, Cliff Pennington, and Coco Crisp top the A's order and both Weeks and Pennington stayed hot after both having a blistering spring. They will fly back to Arizona tonight, play in a handful more exhibition games, including the annual Bay Bridge Series between them and the Giants. They will then resume the season on April 6th against these same Mariners. Due to the schedule, it's likely that we will see an exact replica of the Japan games because the same starting pitchers should be back at it again next week.