Game 42: A’s Baseball Retchfest ← FREE KRAUT!

Game 42: A’s Baseball Retchfest 123

Waitress, I’d like the Eggs Abad, with extra salmonella please.

Jesse Hahn on the mound for the A’s, while Dallas Keuchel faces this lineup:

Burns CF, Semien SS, Reddick RF, Butler DH, Lawrie 3B, Phegley C, Canha 1B, Gentry LF, Sogard 2B.

Your dream team announcing combo of Vince, Glen and Ray calls all the action from Minute Maid Park.

123 thoughts on “Game 42: A’s Baseball Retchfest

  1. FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 11:11 am

    Smells like…victory.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  2. Future Ed May 20,2015 11:19 am

    I really like vince on TV

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  3. ptbnl May 20,2015 11:26 am

    Anyone not going on the 28th want a Stephen Vogt bobblehead?

    If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
    • Future Ed May 20,2015 11:30 am || Up

      I am not going

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
      • ptbnl May 20,2015 11:35 am || Up

        But do you want the bobblehead?

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
        • Future Ed May 20,2015 11:40 am || Up

          why yes, are you offering?

          I have $5. No I don\'t.
          • ptbnl May 20,2015 11:44 am || Up
            If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
            • Future Ed May 20,2015 11:54 am || Up

              can I have it? on the 6th?

              I have $5. No I don\'t.
            • Future Ed May 20,2015 11:54 am || Up

              I’ll bring beer

              I have $5. No I don\'t.
            • FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 11:55 am || Up

              I am going on 5/28, but as usual time spent in the lot pregame >>> than any giveaway trinket, for me.

              "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • Englishmajor May 20,2015 11:58 am || Up

      I am going, but I’m not going to be able to get in line until 4 PM or so, which might not cut it. But I’m going to bring a sign offering to buy one off Yankees fans for $20.

  4. colin May 20,2015 11:30 am

    I just looked up George Springer on fangraphs. How the hell does someone have a 104 wRC+ with a .185 batting average? Joe Morgan eat your heart out.

  5. Dial C for Concupiscence May 20,2015 11:31 am

    Now that’s a fun tidbit right there: A’s are 1-8 against left handed starters this year

  6. andeux May 20,2015 11:41 am

    Wash please.

    TINSTAAFK
  7. Dial C for Concupiscence May 20,2015 11:41 am

    There’s your daily error for Semien

  8. Future Ed May 20,2015 11:41 am

    marcus. don’t think. throw

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  9. Future Ed May 20,2015 11:41 am

    and yeah canha, catch that

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  10. andeux May 20,2015 11:42 am

    Earlier in the game Ray repeated his “if people just leave him alone and don’t write about it, he’ll be fine” theory. So that error was our fault, or Slusser’s, or something.

    TINSTAAFK
    • Thunderbutt May 20,2015 11:45 am || Up

      I blame Ray. He was talking about it.

      There is always a score.
      • FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 11:56 am || Up

        The act of observing disturbs the observed.

        "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  11. FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 11:51 am

    Seriously, how many E’s will Semien be allowed to make before he’s no longer the starting SS? At this point how much worse could Lawrie or Sogard be, really?

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • Soaker May 20,2015 11:55 am || Up

      Despite his bat, I could see Semien being sent to AAA when Zobrist comes back and then returning when Zobrist is traded.

      What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
      • MikeV May 20,2015 12:53 pm || Up

        You don’t send down .313/.357/.506

        He’ll be fine. This is the perfect season to let him actually learn the position, we’re not winning shit this year.

        And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

        Thanks, and go As.

        • Soaker May 20,2015 12:56 pm || Up

          Failure can become mentally destructive and even if the team is 50 games under .500, there’s still pressure in the major leagues that doesn’t exist in the minors. A month getting it together defensively at Nashville might not be a bad idea for the long term.

          What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
          • FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 12:59 pm || Up

            Agreeing with both of you, only solution is 2B.

            "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
            • Dial C for Concupiscence May 20,2015 1:01 pm || Up

              That’s what I would think too

              • Future Ed May 20,2015 1:04 pm || Up

                when Robertson comes up in september

                I have $5. No I don\'t.
          • MikeV May 20,2015 1:17 pm || Up

            If he weren’t hitting I’d be more inclined to agree with you.

            I don’t think he’s got any mental issues, he’s just making simple mistakes.

            And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

            Thanks, and go As.

            • 5Aces May 20,2015 1:18 pm || Up

              I’m still hopeful/stupid enough to think there is a glitch that a few good hours with Wash will clear up.

              Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it? -Steve McCatty
              • nevermoor May 21,2015 10:28 am || Up

                Remember, Donaldson’s rep was as a shitty defensive player. And say what you want about Marcus at least now he should know he needs help (but has the bat of a potential all star)

                "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
          • colin May 20,2015 1:44 pm || Up

            I’m with MikeV on this one. Believe it or not, Semien doesn’t even have the worst error contribution to UZR in 2015 — that award goes to Ian Desmond (caveat: UZR updates somewhat infrequently, so Semien might take the top spot in the next update). Now I’m not exactly sure of the details in how ErrR is calculated, but the point is that there *are* other major league shortstops who make lots of errors. Desmond has been a 4+ WAR player for the past three seasons (he’s not looking so good in 2015, but that’s mostly because he isn’t hitting).

            Semien is the worst fielding shortstop in MLB, but I don’t think he’s in such a different category that his SS experiment needs to be called off, especially since this isn’t a contention year.

          • James V. May 20,2015 4:01 pm || Up

            I hate to be harsh, but if he can’t get over the mental side of struggling in the field, he’s not going to last in the bigs anyway.

            I’m not even sure what part of it is mental at this point and what part is him just not being very good in the field.

            • andeux May 20,2015 4:16 pm || Up

              The one positive is that his struggles in the field don’t seem to be affecting him at the plate.

              Someone suggested a few days ago that he could end up in CF. That makes sense to me, as his current fielding problems could be just as much of an issue at 2B as at SS. And he’s certainly hitting well enough to be an asset in CF, or even in LF for that matter. The main problem is that we still don’t have another candidate to be our everyday SS.

              TINSTAAFK
            • grover May 20,2015 6:02 pm || Up

              Watching him live, I feel a little more comfortable “scouting” him…

              Semien flashes SS tools when he doesn’t have time to think. I’m not sure if he can range deep in the hole and gun someone out at 1st (he didn’t get the opportunity while I was watching him) but he has the arm strength to make at least the routine throws. His worst throws come when he has time; and he’s not rushing, he’s being appropriately deliberate (if that makes sense) and then sending a worm burner to 1st base. His range seems fine although he’s not very instinctive and the hands look OK to me.

              But he’s definitely less than the sum of his parts while playing SS.

              • James V. May 20,2015 7:16 pm || Up

                Marcus Semien: Shortstop? But I’ve only ever been a utility guy.
                Billy Beane: It’s not that hard, Marcus. Tell him, Wash.
                Ron Washington: It’s incredibly hard.

            • MikeV May 21,2015 11:07 am || Up

              People keep bringing it up, but is there anything at all that points to it being a mental thing as opposed to him just flubbing some grounders and missing some throws?

              He’s still hitting the shit out of the ball. If someone is really a headcase, they’re going to let it affect him all the time (see Reddick)

              And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

              Thanks, and go As.

              • dmoas May 21,2015 11:53 am || Up

                There’s a difference between being a temperamental headcase (Reddick) and just having a mental issue (not able to do something you’ve repeatedly done all your life).

              • grover May 21,2015 10:11 pm || Up

                I can’t explain it other than it has to be mental; I’ve seen him do everything right to set up and make a good throw… then he bounces it to 1B.

                But when it’s a pure reaction play, no time to think be for making the throw, he hits the glove.

  12. Future Ed May 20,2015 11:56 am

    Glen “white sox came storming back”

    uh, no, just team dynamite doing its thing

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  13. Englishmajor May 20,2015 11:56 am

    Vince described Abad as “really inconsistent” — if only.

    • Future Ed May 20,2015 11:58 am || Up

      I am relatively sure he thinks “consistent” means good and “inconsistent” means bad

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
  14. Future Ed May 20,2015 11:59 am

    No, ray, they don’t have to bunt because there is a guy in scoring position with no outs, not because there is a passed abll

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  15. Future Ed May 20,2015 11:59 am

    that scores the runner regardless

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  16. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:06 pm

    remember when this half inning started?

    I think I need to shave again

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  17. Soaker May 20,2015 12:07 pm

    DirecTV is showing signs of succumbing to this thunderstorm, which may spare me from part of the rest of this.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
  18. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:15 pm

    I am not sure keuchel is wrong on that pitch. seems like han got it

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  19. Dial C for Concupiscence May 20,2015 12:17 pm

    Alright bases loaded A’s. Let’s do this

    • Dial C for Concupiscence May 20,2015 12:21 pm || Up

      Probably should have specified what “this” meant

    • Soaker May 20,2015 12:21 pm || Up

      Well, Gentry was going to have to do something…

      What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
      • FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 12:26 pm || Up

        Even the spare bland descriptions from Gameday cannot mask the despair of needing Gentry to come through at a crucial moment.

        "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  20. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:20 pm

    naturally

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
    • 5Aces May 20,2015 1:13 pm || Up

      No you throw it to who.

      Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it? -Steve McCatty
      • Future Ed May 20,2015 5:13 pm || Up

        if only who wss the firstbaseperson

        I have $5. No I don\'t.
  21. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:21 pm

    nice one craig

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  22. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:48 pm

    does it count as a runner in scoring position if its billy butler on 2nd?

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  23. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:51 pm

    missed it

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
  24. Future Ed May 20,2015 12:53 pm

    shut down fram. drinmk

    I have $5. No I don\'t.
    • Dial C for Concupiscence May 20,2015 1:02 pm || Up

      Shutdown Inning Lost: A Poem in 12 Sections

  25. Soaker May 20,2015 1:15 pm

    I don’t think Reddick wants to play any more today.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
    • grover May 20,2015 1:18 pm || Up

      Im at work, was the called strike 3 an actual strike?

      • Soaker May 20,2015 1:21 pm || Up

        It was borderline, low and away, certainly called a strike a fair number of times even if off the plate by a couple inches.

        What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
        • grover May 20,2015 1:23 pm || Up

          Fair nuff. Thanks

          • MikeV May 20,2015 1:37 pm || Up

            hey dude how was the game?

            And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

            Thanks, and go As.

            • grover May 20,2015 1:43 pm || Up

              The tailgate on Saturday was fun. And hanging out with everyone in the section (thanks again for the tickets, Bryan) on Sunday was cool.

              The games themselves?

              Typical A’s baseball, circa 2015.

              • MikeV May 20,2015 2:20 pm || Up

                Eh, the important stuff was fun.

                And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

                Thanks, and go As.

                • grover May 20,2015 2:26 pm || Up

                  Very true.

                  If work keeps being slow I might be able to catch a couple more games.

      • Soaker May 20,2015 5:45 pm || Up

        Definitely more an “I’m frustrated” rather than “You blew the call”. He came pretty close to an ejection over this.

        What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
  26. lenscrafters May 20,2015 1:42 pm

    Gentry, Sogard, Burns are coming up in the 9th so I’m feeling pretty good about 6 runs A’s mojo.

  27. colin May 20,2015 1:46 pm

    How the hell do you double on a “soft line drive to second baseman”?

    • Soaker May 20,2015 1:49 pm || Up

      It was more of a blooper over Canha’s head. It didn’t make it out to Reddick so Sogard had to go over to the foul line to track it down.

      What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
      • Thunderbutt May 20,2015 8:22 pm || Up

        The MFker landed on the infield dirt.

        There is always a score.
  28. Soaker May 20,2015 1:54 pm

    The 28th loss will be 5 more than any other AL team has, and 3 more than any NL team. I’m afraid Real BC Oakland is facing relegation.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
  29. FreeSeatUpgrade May 20,2015 2:02 pm

    Sagh.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  30. Soaker May 20,2015 2:11 pm

    120 more games of Vince blathering on about “what the A’s need to do to turn this around” is going to be a lot more than I can handle.

    What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
    • dmoas May 20,2015 2:19 pm || Up

      In a month or so when we get officially eliminated and there’s nothing the A’s can do to turn it around, he’ll come up with something else.

      • 5Aces May 20,2015 5:56 pm || Up

        The reality is, to get on track and turn this around next season…

        Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it? -Steve McCatty
    • Englishmajor May 20,2015 6:38 pm || Up

      If we’re All Out for this year, let’s break some new ground in the broadcast booth with Kirsten Karbach.

      • ptbnl May 20,2015 9:04 pm || Up

        That’s no good … she tells you what’s happening.

        If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • Future Ed May 20,2015 9:25 pm || Up

        she is so much better than vince.

        how can we help?

        I have $5. No I don\'t.
      • sslinger May 20,2015 9:35 pm || Up

        What you’re really saying here is Ken is dead, aren’t you?

        • andeux May 20,2015 9:37 pm || Up

          Or since the operation, he is now Kirsten.

          TINSTAAFK
      • dmoas May 20,2015 11:38 pm || Up

        She does that weird “radio voice” thing that irks the hell out of me. The guy who preceded Greg Papa did that with the A’s and it made me cringe to listen to any word he said.

  31. vignette17 May 20,2015 2:45 pm

    I still feel like there is legitimate ML talent on this team, but it’s too big a hole. So here’s the plan:

    Trade Kaz to BOS for Cecchini/JBJ
    Trade Zobrist to NYY for Rob Refsnyder
    Trade Clippard for a reliever prospect

    Explore trades for Reddick and Vogt. Both are decent sell highs.

    Let Semien and Canha play SS and LF for the rest of the year. The record for most E as a SS since WWII in a season is Roy Smalley with 51 in 1950. Let Semien try for it. Canha is in left to play Muncy at 1b. Call up Wendle and see if there’s anything there. Let Lawrie, Butler, and Crisp (if he comes back) try and prove their value. Any are available in trade. DFA Fuld. Play Gentry against all LHP for another month. If there’s nothing DFA him.

    Lineup:

    Burns
    Semien
    Reddick
    Vogt
    Butler
    Muncy
    Canha
    Lawrie
    Wendle

    Add Cecchini, JBJ, Refsnyder when they get here for those struggling.

    Rotation:
    Gray
    Hahn
    Graveman
    Chavez
    Leon/Bassitt/Nolin/Zito/Pom/Griffin

    Give all the young SP every opportunity to pitch. Let them get their struggles out this year. Gray is simply too good unless there’s an absolutely dynamite offer. Do not trade unless there is a literal A prospect on the table or a young player with 5+ years of control. Repeat: DO NOT TRADE GRAY.

    Bullpen:
    Alvarez
    Venditte
    Scribner
    FRod
    Otero

    Look I don’t care who is in the pen as long as Abad is gone. Have Doo take it incredibly slow if he’s really only throwing high 80s. Maybe even shut him down. Trade EOF for nothing. Trade Clippard for something. This problem child has already cost the A’s this season.

    • MikeV May 20,2015 3:42 pm || Up

      is Jon Bon Jovi good at baseball?

      Also trading Zobrist for one 2B spec seems like selling low.

      And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

      Thanks, and go As.

      • vignette17 May 20,2015 4:24 pm || Up

        A 24 year old B prospect before the season who has a 143 wRC+ in AAA. And Zobrist is coming off injury.

    • colin May 20,2015 4:10 pm || Up

      I would worry that JBJ’s upside is basically Craig Gentry.

      • andeux May 20,2015 4:19 pm || Up

        We can corner the market on fast outfielders who can’t hit.

        TINSTAAFK
      • vignette17 May 20,2015 4:25 pm || Up

        It is a worry. But he can certainly field, and he did put up a 154 wRC+ in AAA this year.

    • lenscrafters May 20,2015 5:26 pm || Up

      No on the Red Sox package. JBJ is somewhat interesting but Cecchini is pretty horrid. He looks like Sogard at best without the plus defense or shiny minor league numbers.

      They should definitely explore a Reddick trade. He’s at his highest value right now and maybe he’s actually broken out. But with him, there’s always the chance of getting injured again and becoming inconsistent. Not someone I want to commit long term dollars to.

      • vignette17 May 20,2015 10:16 pm || Up

        Cecchini hasn’t hit at AAA but at every other level, he’s hit quite well. He can fake a SS and would give the A’s another option there.

        • grover May 21,2015 6:08 am || Up

          I’d rather have a real SS.

          And a shiny hat.

      • nevermoor May 21,2015 10:33 am || Up

        Sogard has plus defense?

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
        • dmoas May 21,2015 10:56 am || Up

          I’d think so. Maybe not uber defensive, but better than average.

          • James V. May 21,2015 11:46 am || Up

            PASSES THE EYEBALL TEST!

            But seriously, he seems very steady in the field. Isn’t he?

            • dmoas May 21,2015 11:58 am || Up

              Ha, yeah. The eye test + not remember hearing anything negative (or positive) about it from a visual or statistical sense made me feel it was a fair assessment. I was fully prepared to be proven wrong though.

          • colin May 21,2015 11:50 am || Up

            He has career UZR/150 of +4.4 at 2B over ~2000 innings. At SS, his UZR/150 is -12.1, but it’s only 400 innings. I think that the best guess is to heavily downweight the SS UZR number (because sample size is too small), which would lead to the conclusion that he has above average defense at 2B, which would translate to roughly average defense at SS (I think the relative positional adjustment between 2B and SS is 5 runs?).

            • nevermoor May 21,2015 12:40 pm || Up

              I’ll admit that it was not a thoughtful question, but reading this doesn’t really convince me that defense is an asset for Sogard, so much as we think it SHOULD be an asset for a light-hitting MI.

              That said, I just did a Fangraphs leaderboard for 2013/2014 (to get ~2000 innings) and the closest comp is Hunter Pence at 4.2 (#36 of 121 qualified), with next closest being Kendrick (5.2) and Miguel Cabrera (3.9). So it’s certainly fair to call him above average, but he’s no defensive specialist. Which, I guess, really just gets us into a debate about what “plus” defense means.

              "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
              • dmoas May 21,2015 12:55 pm || Up

                I think it’s fair to say he’s not a defensive specialist. He’s an above average (though not “good”) defender at one position and average to sub-par elsewhere. That hardly constitutes someone who should be viewed as a specialist.

  32. Glorious Mundy May 20,2015 3:47 pm

    If I weren’t still smiling about Steph Curry’s daughter, this baseball season would really be pissing me off right about now.

    • Englishmajor May 20,2015 3:55 pm || Up

      BUT THINK OF THE BEAT WRITERS ON DEADLINE

      • Glorious Mundy May 21,2015 5:41 pm || Up

        This anchor on ESPN right now is actually trying to argue that it was inappropriate for him to bring his kid to that press conference because it would be inappropriate for her to bring her kids to the set while she’s anchoring. She doesn’t seem to understand that playing basketball is his job, not press conferencing.

        • Future Ed May 21,2015 7:34 pm || Up

          when you are dong something at work, the appropriate arbiter is your boss. If your boss says no, don’t do it.

          in this case, more people watched/clicked on stories about the kid that any other press conference after a basketball game. I think the boss is fine with that

          I have $5. No I don\'t.
        • Englishmajor May 21,2015 8:07 pm || Up

          I watched the video before I knew that reporters were bitching, and for about two seconds I have to confess I thought “huh, I would be mildly peeved if I had to find a cut of tape to pull from this thing and there was some toddler babbling over the ten seconds I wanted”. And then I remembered how many events, sports and otherwise, thatI’ve tried to pull cuts from where there was coughing, sneezing, rustling papers, sirens going by outside, cell phones going off, and generally crappy audio quality interfering with my plans. Broadcasters need to realize that the world is not going to deliver us pristine audio and video, journalists in general need to realize that news doesn’t happen on schedule and according to plan. And a person who lives with a two-year-old child is usually quite used to thinking and speaking while the child is doing their thing.

    • batgirl May 20,2015 4:15 pm || Up

      I think she should just do all the pressers by herself. So adorable. I want Klay to bring his bulldog next time.

  33. Jennifer May 20,2015 5:07 pm

    HOLY SHIT. BEST DAY EVER! I got a $1.25/HR raise and Dr. Asshole got backstage passes to an Avett Brothers show and he gave them to me. /dead

    • Future Ed May 20,2015 5:18 pm || Up

      and you missed the game!!!!

      I have $5. No I don\'t.
      • Jennifer May 20,2015 7:57 pm || Up

        And then Asshole, hot intern, and some coworkers went to dinner.

        • grover May 20,2015 8:23 pm || Up

          With you?

          And would that be good or bad?

          But I’m glad you had a good day.

          • Jennifer May 20,2015 8:32 pm || Up

            Oh yeah. With me. It was nice. We have disgusting conversations.

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