From Emerson's firing to Suarez's emergence, a look at what's driven the A's collapse since June 15 — and which storylines could carry into the second half
In early June, the Athletics went 4-2 in two home series in Las Vegas before returning to their temporarily permanent home in Sacramento to go 3-4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Angels. It was those final two games against the Angels that started this current downturn, where the A's are just 3-17 in their last 20.
Since June 15 with the first game against the Pirates, the A's rank 29th in ERA with a 6.27, going 6-19 in that span. That has been the focus of fans' ire of late, and even led to the firing of pitching coach Scott Emerson on Monday. Something had to change, and Emerson was the change the team decided to make.
However, the A's offense has also been performing poorly. In fact, they've also been at the bottom of the league, posting an 80 wRC+ (100 is league average) which ranks 30th in MLB since June 15. Their 102 runs scored in that span rank 24th.
That said, the offense has been dealing with a number of injuries. Brent Rooker is out for the season, and he landed on the IL right around that time. Tyler Soderstrom, Zack Gelof, Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz have also missed time in these four weeks, keeping the A's offense far from full strength.
While the team is struggling overall, the internal storylines have changed a bit over the past month. Lawrence Butler really struggled in April and May, batting just .164 entering June. Since June 15 however, he's been one of the better A's hitters, holding a 107 wRC+ while batting .235 with a .366 OBP. He's still striking out at a 28% clip in that span, but he's also walking 15.9% of the time.
On the other side of the coin, Carlos Cortes, who is still batting .279 after a scalding hot April where he hit .400, has slowed down dramatically. In this span he has played in 16 games, received 40 plate appearances, and holds a 12 wRC+ while batting .179 with a .200 OBP. He was a huge boost to the offense when Rooker went on the IL in April. The A's could use that bat again.
All-Star Shea Langeliers has also been struggling during this stretch, batting .181 with a .261 OBP, three home runs, 10 RBI and a 53 wRC+.
On the pitching side, there aren't too many surprises. That said, José Suraez, a waiver claim from a divisional rival earlier in the season, has been a terrific pickup for the club. Across nine games in this span he has racked up 15 ⅔ innings and put up a 1.15 ERA.
Luis Medina holds a 0.75 ERA in this same span, striking out 35.8% of the batters he faces. His issue has been free passes, walking 17% of the batters he sees. He's kept his ERA mostly clean, but each appearance is a high-wire act.
Finally, Mark Leiter Jr. hasn't allowed a run in this stretch, granted, he's only pitched four innings. For him, we'll zoom out a bit. Since April 10, which is right after he blew the lead late against the New York Yankees, he has made 30 appearances for the A's, totaling 28 ⅓ innings and holds a 3.49 ERA in that span.
Only two A's pitchers have been better since April 10 — Brooks Kriske, who made two appearances before landing on the 60-day IL, and the aforementioned Suarez with a 3.09 ERA.
With the break offering a natural reset, the question now is whether the A's can carry any of these individual bright spots into the second half or if they'll be buried by the same problems that have sunk them since mid-June.
