2006 Oakland A's Predictions & Season Preview
Our 2006 Oakland A’s predictions hope to match last year’s successes. Oakland finished their 2005 campaign 14 games over the .500 mark, which isn’t bad, but they had to skip out on the playoffs for the second straight year, and only time will tell if this team can get back to the top spot in the AL West any time soon. It doesn’t look like this year will be the year.
The 2005 A’s were a profitable team, especially against south paws. They went 30-17 against lefties for a positive 11.6 units. They have consistently been good when facing left handed pitching over the past 5 seasons and we expect this trend to continue into 2006. This could be the best thread for us to follow once again this season.
Barry Zito used to give the A’s a chance to win every time he toed the rubber. He was the best pitcher in baseball in 2002 posting a 23-5 record, but he is just 39-36 the past 3 seasons and he has A’s fans wondering what happened to their former ace. He will be a big question mark this season, but if he can find his old form, it will go a long way in helping the A’s get over the hump. His recent decline doesn’t appear to be all his fault as he has had a respectable E.R.A. He got off to a slow start in 2005, but came on strong as the season progressed proving that he still has some good years ahead of him. The A’s will need to do a better job supporting all of their pitchers this season. The collective pitching staff was surprisingly impressive with an opposing batting average of just .241 and an ERA of 3.69 ERA. Rich Harden, Estaban Loaiza, Danny Harden, and Joe Blanton will make up the rest of a solid staff.
I know it’s a ways off but one thing to keep a close eye on is how the Athletics finish out the season. The hard work they put in to have a respectable season in 2005, was nearly negated as they finished by winning just 14 of 32 games. Hopefully they’ll be able to sweeten up the sour taste in their mouths as well as the mouths of Oakland backers who dropped 6 units down the home stretch.
At the plate, the Oakland A’s are confident in the abilities of Eric Chavez, who is a very consistent left handed stick with more power than most people know about. Although there is a list of other possible candidates who have the potential to be big contributors on this year’s team, we really can’t pencil anyone else in as a reliable threat. The A’s will be hoping to get at least one strong season out of the Big Hurt to make a post season run, but questions remain about his health and if he even has what it takes to put up big numbers anymore. If Frank Thomas pans out and if Zito can reemerge as one of the best in the west, the A’s might be stepping back into the spotlight sooner than expected.
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