The Oakland Athletics have become the third American League and fourth overall team to clinch their spot in the 2020 MLB Postseason. This comes as a result of a 6-0 win for Oakland over the San Fransisco Giants and a 6-1 win for the San Diego Padres over the Seattle Mariners. The A’s are joining the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox in the American League, as well as their California-neighbor, the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League.
Pitching
Oakland has been led by some very good pitching, including an exceptional performance this season from the bullpen. The Athletics are currently fifth in earned runs in all of baaeball. Leading the charge is closer Liam Hendriks, who is currently leading the American League in saves. Relief pitcher Jake Diekman has also been crucial for Oakland’s late-game efforts this season.
Hitting
On the offensive side, Matt Chapman was one of the best players, not just for Oakland, but among all American League infielders. Unfortunately, the A’s will be missing Chapman for the remainder of the season. Former Arizona Diamondback Jake Lamb was picked up to fill Chapman’s role. So far, he has excelled at that with an OPS of 1.409 through his first three games with the A’s. It’s hard to pick particular players to highlight for Oakland on the offensive side this season. The bats have been exceptionally hot through 51 games. The offensive prowess has been huge for Oakland’s success in this shortened 2020 season.
What’s To Come
The A’s have also trimmed their magic number for clinching the AL West down to just two, as the Houston Astros lost 6-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight. This means that if Houston loses again to Arizona and Oakland defeats San Francisco again on Saturday, then Oakland will be the AL West champions. The A’s also sits just one loss behind both the White Sox and the Rays, so a strong final week could see the Athletics move up to a higher seed. Similarly, the Minnesota Twins are three losses behind Oakland making it likely that Oakland will not slip down any further.
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