Athletics Clone Wins: Takeaways From Series Finale Against Twins

Alika Williams has quietly become one of the Athletics' most underrated contributors all season long. This year, he is batting a solid .268 with a decent .720 OPS. When you combine his hitting with his great speed and defense, you have yourself a very good infielder. In the win, he proved this by going 2-for-4 with a triple and a double, along with two RBIs.

Once the Athletics get healthy again, they will need to figure out what to do with Alika Williams. Having a guy this talented behind Jacob Wilson is a very good problem to have for a team that is close to getting over the hump. Two realistic solutions remain: keep him on the bench, or trade him this offseason or close to next year’s deadline if his production remains this good.

Brady Basso Belongs in the Bullpen

Brady Basso has been one of, if not the best, relievers for the Athletics this season. But just recently, Mark Kotsay elected to use Basso as an opener for Jack Perkins, a move that, while it did sound good on paper, had plenty of drawbacks. The biggest being that Basso cannot be used late in games.

After getting blown up by the Astros in his last outing as an opener, Basso would put together one of the strongest performances we have seen from a member of the Athletics bullpen. He would pitch 2.0 innings while allowing a single hit in 15 pitches. Moving forward, if Kotsay feels that Perkins needs an opener, it should not be Basso. His value late in the game is simply unmatched and is exactly what this team needs right now.

JT Ginn Needs To Be Better

JT Ginn has easily been the Athletics' most consistent pitcher. However, recently he has gone from consistently good to consistently okay. In the month of August, Ginn has started five games, in which he has pitched 29.0 innings with an ugly 4.66 ERA. In the win, he pitched 6.0 innings while allowing three home runs and four runs total. Not the outing you want from your ace.

The good news is that he would hit his mark of 6.0 innings, meaning the Athletics did not have to use many pitchers to close the game. However, there will come a start where Ginn completely collapses; this outing could have been that time. Three home runs, but only giving up four runs, is something Ginn should be thankful for.