CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
No release available.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have lost five straight, 11 of the last 12 and 14 of the last 16…are 3-14 (.176) overall and have the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (4-13, .235)…have matched the worst record in Athletics history after 17 games…the 1951 Philadelphia A’s and 1966 Kansas City A’s also started the year 3-14…the 1951 club lost game 18 to fall to 3-15…were swept in a three-game series by the Mets to start the homestand and have now lost each of the first five series of the season…the only other times in Athletics history the A’s lost the first five series of the season are 1935, 1946 and 1951…have never lost the first six series.
OFFENSE: The A’s were held to one run last night and have scored one run or fewer in six of the first 17 games, which matches the Royals for the most such games in the majors…have scored 63 runs overall, which is tied for fifth fewest…are batting .273 (71-for-251) with eight home runs and 35 runs scored over the last seven games after hitting .198 with eight home runs and 28 runs scored over the first 10 contests…have the fourth lowest OPS in the majors (.671), are tied for the fourth fewest extra base hits (40) and have the fifth lowest slugging percentage (.362)…are tied for the seventh most hit by pitches (9).
PITCHING: The A’s allowed 10 runs on a season-high 20 hits last night…it was the seventh time this year Oakland allowed 10 or more runs in a game… have allowed 135 runs for the season, which is the most in the majors and the most by any team over the first 17 games since the Rockies allowed 137 in 1998…have a 7.74 ERA, which is nearly two earned runs higher than the next closest team (Tigers, 5.76)…also have the highest opponents OPS (.891), batting average (.286), on-base percentage (.385) and slugging percentage (.506)…led the majors in most walks (88), home runs (33) and hit batters (14), have the third fewest strikeouts (118) and are tied for the fourth most wild pitches (9).
WITH THE BASES LOADED: A’s opponents are 12-for-24 (.500) with four grand slams, six walks and two hit by pitches with the bases loaded…the walks and grand slams are the most in the majors and the hit by pitches are tied for the most…the four grand slams match the second highest season total by an A’s team over the last six years (surrendered six last year).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-9 with a 9.39 ERA over the first 17 games…that is the longest season-opening streak of consecutive games without a win from a starter in Athletics history (previous: 10 in 1979 and 1997)…it matches the second longest streak of consecutive games without a win from a starting pitcher at any point in the season in Oakland history… the longest such streak is an 18-game streak from July 24-Aug. 12, 1997…A’s starters have the highest ERA in the majors and are the only team without a win from their starting pitchers…have tossed fewer than five innings nine times and have the fifth fewest innings pitched in the majors (77.2)…have allowed more runs than innings pitched in nine of the 17 games.
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has a 5.97 ERA, which is third highest in the majors…has 72.1 innings pitched, which is tied with the Red Sox for the most…had a save on Opening Day but has none since then…the one save is tied with the Phillies for the fewest in the majors…has four blown saves, which is tied for the most in the majors.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have not committed an error in the last five games and have made three errors over the last 11 games after making eight miscues over the first six contests…have 11 errors overall, which is tied for sixth most in the majors…have a 0-8 record when going errorless and are 3-6 when making one or more errors…had their fourth outfield assist of the season last night, which is tied for fourth most in the majors…have two passed balls, which are tied for third most…had just three passed balls all last year.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts on the homestand and are 18-for-19 (94.7%) for the season…rank fourth in the majors in stolen base percentage and tied for sixth in steals…A’s opponents have stolen at least one base in each of the last five games and are 11-for-12 (91.7%) over that span…are 20-for-23 (87.0%) for the season…the 20 stolen bases allowed are tied for third most in the majors
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s have lost a season-high five consecutive home games…are 2-8 (.200) in the Coliseum, which is the second lowest home winning percentage in the majors (Royals, 1-10/.091)…are 0-4 on their second homestand of the season, a six-game stand against New York-NL (0-3) and Chicago-NL (three games)…went 2-4 on the season-opening six-game homestand against Los Angeles-AL (1-2) and Cleveland (1-2)…went 1-6 on their first road trip to Tampa Bay (0-3) and Baltimore (1-3)…leave following the game tomorrow for a seven-game road trip to Texas (three games) and Los Angeles-AL (four games) that starts on Friday.
A’S IN APRIL: The A’s are 2-14 (.125) in April and the 14 losses are tied for fourth most in Oakland history in April…went 11-15 in 2019 and the record for most April losses is 17 in 1994 (7-17) and 2001 (8-17)…the .292 winning percentage in 1994 is the lowest in Oakland history in an April with more than five games…have an 8.17 ERA and the highest April ERA in Oakland history is 6.20 in 1994…have allowed 33 home runs, which is third most in Oakland history in April (36 in 1996, 34 in 2019).
NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 3-6 in night games and 0-8 during the day… the only other team without a win in a day game is the Dodgers, who are 0-3…are batting .293 (94-for-321) with 46 runs in nine night games (5.1 runs per game), .162 (41-for-253) with 17 runs in eight day games (2.1 runs per game)…have the third best night batting average in the majors and the lowest day batting average.
EXTRA INNING GAMES AND OTHER CLOSE CALLS: The A’s played their third extra inning game of the season Sunday and are 0-3 in those games…the three losses are tied with the Mariners for the most in the majors and the three games are tied for third most…six of the A’s first 17 games have been decided in the winning teams last at bat and the A’s are 2-4 in those games… two of the A’s three wins have been by one run and Oakland is 2-4 in one-run decisions…the six one-run games are tied for third most in the majors as are the four one-run losses.
THIS AND THAT: The A’s lost by nine runs last night, which is the fifth time this year they have lost by nine or more runs…have a run differential of -72, which is the lowest in the majors (Rockies, -38)…are 1-4 when scoring six or more runs in a game…are 3-10 when the opponent starts a right-handed pitcher, 0-4 when they start a left-hander…are the only team in the majors without a win when the opponent starts a lefty…the A’s average time of game is 2 hours and 47 minutes, which is second slowest in the majors (Orioles, 2:49)…have not averaged under 2:53 per game since 2010 (2:43).
THE INJURED LIST: The A’s placed Domingo Acevedo on the injured list last Wednesday and now have seven players on the IL (Blackburn, Brown, Piña, Rucinski, Snead, Tarnok)…began the season with five players on the IL after starting the season with three last year…used the IL 31 times last year, which broke the Oakland record of 27 set in 2016 and matched in 2021…however, used the IL nine times for Covid in 2022 and three times in 2021.
A’S VS. CUBS
• The A’s lost the first meeting of 2023 last night and have now lost six of their last seven games against the Cubs.
• The A’s and Cubs meet for the first time since 2019 when Oakland lost two of three at Wrigley Field.
• This is the Cubs first visit to Oakland since 2016…the A’s were swept in a three-game series that year.
• Have lost four of the previous five season series.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-1 0-0 0-1
2019 0-0 1-2 1-2
Oakland History: 5-11
at the Coliseum: 2-5
at Wrigley Field: 3-6
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zach Jackson has not allowed a run in eight of his first nine appearances for a 1.33 ERA…Shea Langeliers is 8-for-24 (.333) with two home runs and seven RBI over his last seven games after going 6-for-28 (.214) with a home run and RBI over his first eight…Adrián Martínez tossed 2.2 innings last night and ranks second among Major League relievers with 13.2 innings pitched…Sam Moll has not allowed a hit over his first seven games… opponents are 0-for-15 but he has walked four and hit three for a .318 opponents on-base percentage…Ryan Noda is 5-for-20 (.250) over his last eight games but has eight walks over that span for a .464 on-base percentage…overall, is hitting .220 with a .385 on-base percentage…Brent Rooker is 12-for-30 (.400) with four home runs, 11 RBI and five multiple hit games over his last eight games after going 0-for-7 with no RBI over his first three contests…Esteury Ruiz leads American League rookies in batting (.321), on-base percentage (.406) and hits (18), is tied for the lead in doubles (4), ranks second in stolen bases (4), tied for third in RBI (8), fourth in slugging (.393) and OPS (.799), tied for fifth in extra base hits (4) and sixth in runs (7).
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Ken Waldichuk (0-2, 10.20 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season…begins his second season in the majors and is on his first Opening Day roster…made his Major League debut with Oakland last September.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Left-handed hitters have just eight at bats against him and are 2-for-8 (.250)…right-handers are batting .357 (20-for-56)…his career splits are .162 (6-for-37) against lefties, .304 (48-for-158) against righties… has allowed a .410 (16-for-39) batting average with the bases empty compared to .240 (6-for-25) with runners on base…opponents are 3-for-14 (.214) with runners in scoring position.
THIS AND THAT: Did not allow a home run in his last start after yielding three in his first start and four in his second start…the seven home runs are tied for the most in majors…the seven home runs in back-to-back starts match the most in Oakland history by a pitcher over a two-game stretch…Mike Fiers (Sept. 3-9, 2019) is the only other one to do it over the last 25 years…is tied for the fifth most runs allowed in the majors (17)…12 of the 17 runs have scored on home runs.
FIRST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 6-0 loss to Los Angeles (AL) on April 2 in Oakland…allowed six runs on a career-high nine hits in 5.2 innings and all of the runs which scored on three home runs…O’Hoppe hit a three-run home run in the fourth and Trout and Ohtani hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth, with Trout’s being a two-run shot…the O’Hoppe home run snapped a career-high 14.0-inning scoreless streak dating back to last year.
SECOND START: He lost his second consecutive start in the A’s 9-5 loss at Tampa Bay on April 7…allowed a career-high eight runs and a career-high four home runs in 3.0 innings…surrendered a grand slam to Paredes in the second and solo home runs to Ramirez in the second and Margot and Bethancourt in the third.
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 8-4 win at Baltimore last Wednesday…the A’s scored three times in the first and he allowed two runs in the second…then blanked the Orioles on two hits and walk over the next four innings…had a 4-2 lead when he was relieved by Familia with one out and a runner on first in the seventh inning…Familia allowed the baserunner to score plus one run of his own for the blown save…the A’s came back with three in the eighth and one in the ninth for the win.
WALDICHUK’S 2023 STARTS
Date Opponent Opponent Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
April 2 April 2 Los Angeles (AL) Los Angeles (AL) 0-6 L 9.53 5.2 9 6 6 1 4 3 96
April 7 April 7 at Tampa Bay at Tampa Bay 5-9 L 14.54 3.0 8 8 8 3 3 4 71
April 12 April 12 at Baltimore at Baltimore 8-4 – 10.20 6.1 5 3 3 3 4 0 107
WALDICHUK’S CAREER STARTS VS. CHICAGO (NL)
Career: Is making his first career appearance and start
Date Site Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
Career Totals (0 games, 0 starts) Career Totals (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Camden Yards (0 games, 0 starts) Camden Yards (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022 Totals (0 games, 0 starts) 2022 Totals (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WALDICHUK’S CAREER MATCHUPS VS. CHICAGO (NL)
PLAYER BA OBP SLG OPS AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SH SF HB DP
Mancini .000 .000 .000 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Swanson .333 .333 1.333 1.667 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Torrens .000 .500 .000 .500 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
OPPONENTS BATTING: Allowed a .244 opponents batting average, which broke down to .138 (4-for-29) with a .366 OPS against left-handed hitters compared to .275 (28-for-102) with an .897 OPS against right-handers…surrendered 17 of his 18 extra base hits and issued nine of his 10 walks to righthanded hitters…yielded a .288 batting average and .843 OPS the first time through the order, .196 with a .650 OPS the second time and .238 with a .923 OPS after that…the first two hitters in the batting order combined for a .371 batting average against him but he held the three through nine hitters to a .198 average…opponents were 0-for-12 on an 0-2 count.
THIS AND THAT: Was 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA and .653 opponents OPS in three starts in the Coliseum, 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA and .884 OPS in four starts on the road…however, surrendered four of his five home runs in Oakland…had a 7.52 ERA and .962 opponents OPS in odd numbered innings, a 1.26 ERA and .523 OPS in even numbered innings…did not allow a run in the fourth inning (6.0 ip)…tossed five innings or fewer in five of his seven starts
