The Oakland Athletics wrap up their four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels hoping to secure a split with a win today. Brett Anderson takes the mound for the A’s and will face Joel Pineiro at 12:35pm pacific time. The game will air live on CSN California.
The A’s are giving Daric Barton a day off and starting Conor Jackson in his place. Barton is two for his last twenty with two singles and one walk. After a strong under the radar 2010 campaign, Barton has struggled immensely in 2011. He still brings the solid defense at first, but his offensive output has been just about non-existent. At the top of the order, this kind of offensive black hole can be extremely costly for an offense already struggling.
The rest of the A’s lineup remains the same, which means fans can continue banging their heads against the wall. Given how poorly the A’s have performed on offense, you’d think some kind of shake-up would be in order. The A’s have some hitters down at AAA that are performing well. Highly rated prospect Michael Taylor is off to a strong start through eleven games after a disappointing 2010. Adrian Cardenas and Jemile Weeks are both playing extremely well with a bit more time under their belts. At some point, if you’re Billy Beane and Bob Geren, don’t changes need to be made?
Oakland Athletics
1. Coco Crisp CF
2. David DeJesus RF
3. Conor Jackson 1B
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. Hideki Matsui DH
6. Kurt Suzuki C
7. Mark Ellis 2B
8. Andy LaRoche 3B
9. Cliff Pennington SS
Los Angeles Angels
1. Maicer Izturis 2B
2. Erick Aybar SS
3. Bobby Abreu DH
4. Torii Hunter RF
5. Alberto Callaspo 3B
6. Mark Trumbo 1B
7. Peter Bourjos CF
8. Jeff Mathis C
9. Reggie Willits LF