Why a Hot Streak Is Inevitable for Athletics

Even though the Athletics are 1-3 in games where Jacob Lopez is on the mound, it has gotten hard to ignore how well he is pitching. Since the break, Lopez has posted a solid 2.29 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP. His strikeouts per nine innings are also a very impressive 11.8. Not bad at all.

With JT Ginn looking amazing still and Lopez trending to the moon, the Athletics rotation is starting to find some stability that could be the catalyst for a turnaround. However, this will also require Gage Jump to start pitching well again (7.50 ERA since the break). If all three of these pitchers can remain consistent, the Athletics will start to win more games by default.

With Jeffrey Springs on the IL, there is now an opportunity for Mason Barnett to build on his solid but not good start he had against the Red Sox, in which he pitched 5.0 innings, allowing just three runs and four hits. If Barnett and Jump can improve, all of a sudden, the Athletics rotation looks a lot more promising on paper, which will again lead to more wins and a potential hot streak to round out the year.

Close Losses Are a Result of Injuries

After losing Tuesday's game by one run and Wednesday's game by one run again, it is clear that this team misses the players on the IL. Without the team's top hitters, Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz, you could expect to see a drop in explosiveness in the lineup. Add Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and Zack Gelof into the conversation, and the fact that the A's are only losing by a run is impressive.

The good news for the Athletics is that Gelof is slated to return soon once his rehab assignment in Las Vegas is over. As for Kurtz and Kuroda-Grauer, we could expect to see them later this month, barring a shutdown due to the team's lack of wins.

The point is that if you add even one of these players back into the lineup, odds are that the Athletics offense will be better. Not by much, but enough to start winning these close games. And with the pitching being serviceable for the most part, these close games won't feel as close anymore.

The bottom line is that even though playoffs are out of the question, the Athletics still could catch a second wind late into the season. With many exciting storylines developing and games starting to feel within reach again, we could be on the tail end of a very bad skid.