Open Game Thread: Game 108 - A's at Red Sox

by notsellingjeans on Aug 1, 2008 3:10 PM PDT

The A's open a three-game series in Boston tonight with Justin Duchscherer facing Tim Wakefield.

The A's hope to begin August on a better note than they ended July, as the team has lost 10 of 12 games since the All-Star break to fall a game under .500. If the A's win today, they'll be 54-54 at the 2/3 mark of the season, with exactly 54 games to play.

Perhaps the passing of the non-waiver trading deadline with no additional moves for the A's will help the team to re-focus and play better then they did at the end of July.

The A's offense will receive a much-needed shot in the arm today with the return of Frank Thomas from the DL. Big Hurt had posted a .933 OPS in 106 plate appearances for the A's before injuring himself on May 27. Although Big Frank isn't at 100% yet, he's absolutely owned tonight's starter Tim Wakefield over the course of his career with 7 homers in 53 at-bats, good for a whopping .717 slugging percentage.

Frank's return also has the effect of bumping Jack Cust out to left field, which might not be as bad you think...

Stat(s) of the Day - notice how much better Cust has hit in LF than as a DH:

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2008 - Jack Cust as DH	38	137	21	25	3	0	7	14	30	69	0	0	.182	.333	.358

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2008 - Jack Cust as LF	60	188	30	49	7	0	12	35	45	65	0	0	.261	.401	.489

Cust has an .890 OPS in left field and a .691 OPS as a DH in '08. That's a difference of .200 OPS points. Now, obviously that sample is small, and the true gap in Cust's hitting when playing the field vs. DH'ing isn't nearly that far apart. But his OPS was 40 points greater when he was playing the field vs. DHing last year, too, and it's common for players to hit worse when they DH than when they get to play the field.

Frank Thomas, practically a career DH, is the rare exception. He's one of the few guys who can be projected to hit exactly the same as a DH at this point in his career because heck, that's all he's done for years.

So, perhaps having Cust in left field isn't such a bad thing, if it's the difference between having two .800 OPS hitters in the lineup (Cust and Thomas) versus none (Cust at DH). It's even more tolerable with the outstanding defense of Gonzalez in center and Sweeney in right. If we retain only one of our free agents, I'd hope that it's Thomas, for exactly that ripple effect he creates.

Here's tonight's lineup, L-R-L all the way through. It's amazing how much better Big Frank makes it look, just by pushing everyone else into a better spot. Barton was activated today, too:

Lineup

Oakland Athletics @ Boston Red Sox

08/01/08 4:05 PM PDT

Oakland Athletics	Boston Red Sox
Ryan Sweeney - RF	Dustin Pedroia - 2B
Kurt Suzuki - C	Kevin Youkilis - 1B
Jack Cust - LF	David Ortiz - DH
Frank Thomas - DH	Mike Lowell - 3B
Carlos Gonzalez - CF	Jason Bay - LF
Mark Ellis - 2B	J.D. Drew - RF
Jack Hannahan - 3B	Jed Lowrie - SS
Bobby Crosby - SS	Kevin Cash - C
Daric Barton - 1B	Jacoby Ellsbury - CF

0 recs | 269 comments

Comments

cargon

if he was hitting 3rd and cust 5th, they will have a chance

rktse - August 1, 2008 reply

Nah, don't like that

thejd44 - August 1, 2008 reply

woooooooooohooooooooooooo!!!!!!

finally, my team is in town.

here’s to Duke painting corners all night.

oakinboston - August 1, 2008 reply

on resigning Thomas

if Thomas wants to and feels healthy enough to play another season, he is going to be on the A’s. He continually talks about how he never should have left the A’s, etc and it’s clear he enjoys the clubhouse atmosphere here more than anywhere else. I’m sure he would be willing to take another pay cut to be with the A’s at least one more season, it just makes sense on both sides.
Besides, the A’s already have the youngest team in baseball, if we didn’t have one of the older guys I think our average age wouldn’t be old enough to drink!!!

stranahanahan - August 1, 2008 reply

I'm right with you

Another part of the appeal of Thomas to me is, you know what you’re getting. If the A’s brought in an outside guy to DH or play the field a bit – say, Juan Rivera of the Angels or Kevin Millar of the Orioles, both of whom are free agents probably in the A’s price range – it’s impossible to be 100% sure how they’d mesh with the guys or whether they’d like being here.

Frank is a first-ballot HOFer who has twice signed a contract to play for the league minimum for us. I love him. He’s probably my favorite A.

notsellingjeans - August 1, 2008 reply

Re-sign Frank for 2009 and tell him he is only to JOG and TROT

Nico - August 1, 2008 reply

Hell, if it is on the ground, just walk back to the dugout.

theblackpearl - August 1, 2008 reply

i may be in the minority, but im glad to see barton back in the lineup.

im sure bankston and conrad are nice guys, but he is the one to prove he belongs.

put em in a body bag johnny - August 1, 2008 reply

Unfortunately even though it is the Red Sox, us in Sacramento will be forced to hear that Barton

is back in the lineup, since it won’t be on TV to see.

theblackpearl - August 1, 2008 reply

SuSlu on today's moves...

Link

Andrew Brown to DL (biceps tendonitis)
Daric Barton activated from DL
Gregorio Petit recalled
Joey Devine likely to be activated Saturday
Tony DeFrancesco and Tye Waller exchange base coach responsibilities

calgbear - August 1, 2008 reply

I didn't think Geren had it in him to move DeFranceso off of third base, or was it

Billy’s idea.

theblackpearl - August 1, 2008 reply

Billy's.

Has to be.

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