A's Firmly in the AL West Picture

The Athletics began the season 6-10 after splitting a series with the Seattle Mariners on the road, getting swept out of Sacramento by the Chicago Cubs, winning two of three in Colorado, and losing two of three to both the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.

At the time, it was looking like the A's schedule was about to lighten up just a touch, having faced three of the best teams in baseball--all of whom reside in the tougher National League. Yet, the Cubs, Mets, and Padres are all behind the A's in 2025, and since then the team has started rolling.

Of course, part of their surge has come from playing the Chicago White Sox six times, but they took care of business in those two series, going 5-1 overall. That's a sign of a good team on the rise, winning the games against less difficult opponents. That said, every game is tough in Major League Baseball and there are no "easy" games.

The A's have also lost two of three on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers, won two of three against the Texas Rangers, knocking them out of first in the AL West, and on Monday they took the first game of a four-game set in Texas.

The A's are making a statement early on in divisional play, splitting with the Mariners--who have gone a ridiculous 47-17 against the A's since 2021--and then taking three of four to begin their season series against the Rangers.

Texas was the popular pick to win the division before the season began. After Monday's 2-1 victory, the A's are now tied with Texas in the West at 15-14, 1.5 games back of the Mariners.

As things stand right now, the West is a tight race and a couple of hot weeks from any one of the five teams could create some separation. The Mariners lead the way at 16-12, but a game behind them are the Houston Astros (15-13), and 1.5 back of Seattle are both the Athletics and Rangers (15-14). Not too far behind are the Los Angeles Angels (12-15), 3.5 back in the West and 3-7 in their last ten.

As we wrote here, and discussed on the Effectively Wild A's season preview podcast, the A's have the talent to be in the mix in the division this season. They could easily be a 76-win club, but if some things break their way, they could also reach about 85 wins, which could be enough to win the West. They're currently on pace for an 84-win campaign.

While the starting rotation is still a little shaky, given some injuries and underperformance, the emergence of JP Sears this season has been a huge added bonus for the Athletics. Through six starts this season, the 29-year-old is 4-2 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. It's the best start to a season he's had in his career.

While his walk rate has always been better than league average, he's dropped it to just 1.6 free passes per nine innings, while increasing his strikeout rate to 8.02 per nine.

Despite the rotation having some question marks, the bullpen has been solid, especially since April 14 when they finished up with the Cubs, Mets, and Padres. Since then, the bullpen holds a 2.45 ERA, which ranks No. 7 in baseball over that span. It's also part of the reason why the A's last four wins have been in one-run games.

Manager Mark Kotsay said after the latest one-run win, "The beginning of last year, we had problems winning these types of games. I think there's a lot of confidence in that room right now. They're recognizing how to win these games. That's the maturity, the growth, we've been waiting for."

The A's offense, somewhat unsurprisingly, has been mashing this year, ranking No. 5 in wRC+ with a 113 (100 is league average). That's also good for third in the American League behind the New York Yankees (135) and Mariners (125).

The good news is that they've seen young players Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson take big steps forward this season, and have already called up No. 1 prospect Nick Kurtz, who figures to be a big bat in the lineup before long. The offense is pumping, even without Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler fully hitting their strides.

This team is still a piece or two away from truly contending, but they certainly have the players to make a run at a postseason berth this season.