Athletics Embarrassed: Takeaways from 19-Run Loss vs. Nationals

Henry Bolte was trending toward becoming one of the Athletics' best players by the end of the season. His speed and ability to score runs for the Athletics really set him apart. Defensively, Bolte was considered a rising star, as he is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the game. But speed means nothing if you can't do anything with it.

But things have been taking a brutal turn. In his last 10 games, Bolte is batting just .121 with four hits in 33 at-bats. Things would get even worse for Bolte when he misplayed three balls in the 6th inning, which turned into six Nationals runs. If Bolte cannot turn things around soon, he may be sent to Las Vegas.

Tyler Soderstrom Will Save the Athletics

Tyler Soderstrom has been one of, if not the best, players for the Athletics this season. On the year, Soderstrom is batting .242, with a .817 OPS, and has 15 home runs. In the loss, Soderstrom would hit a two-run home run, which was pretty much the only competitive offensive instance of the night.

In previous articles, we have talked about the Athletics essentially becoming a ticking time bomb . This means that players are getting hot, but it is not resulting in massive offensive outings. If Soderstrom can lead the charge, along with Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and Jacob Wilson, the Athletics could turn things around soon.

The Athletics Bullpen is Terrible

The Athletics bullpen, not counting Carlos Cortes, would allow 12 runs. Granted, six of those runs came in the 6th inning, and as mentioned earlier, Bolte would play a big part in that happening. Either way, this bullpen is not performing well, aside from a few exceptions. If nothing changes, the Athletics will continue to plummet.

The only positive from the night was Brady Basso's hitless inning in the top of the 8th. But by then it was already 18-2. So crediting Basso for a solid outing is a stretch, depending on how you look at it. As for the rest of the series, we can expect guys like Elvis Alvarado and Luis Medina to give the Athletics some pitching. But as we have seen all season, this could be wishful thinking.