There is one last piece missing from what is driving the A’s success this year: Khris Davis. Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs, one of the best baseball analysts out there, already touched on the elite bullpen of the Athletics earlier this year, which I highly recommend reading. One of the keys to the Athletics’ success so far has been their star third baseman Matt Chapman and an elite bullpen that just got stronger over the weekend by adding arrow-slinging closer Fernando Rodney from the Twins. A crucial series begins tonight between Seattle and Oakland, where the A’s will look to separate themselves from Seattle and the rest of the wild card pack. Not only are they in the hunt for a wild card spot, but after the Mariners sweep of the Astros in Houston over the weekend the A’s now find themselves only 2.5 games back for first place in the AL West. Oakland has ridden an unbelievable hot streak this summer to take a 1.5 game lead for the second wild card over the Seattle Mariners, a team currently running the longest post season drought in North American sports (ouch). If the season ended today, they would currently be on a flight to New York to play the Yankees in the Wild Card Game. I don’t have to tell you that the A’s have been a surprise this year. Life happened, and I wasn’t able to finish yesterday, so thankfully Khris is an avid reader of the blog and homered again last night in the A’s 7-0 win over Los Angeles, sparing me from having to think of a new way to open the post. I originally started writing this post Saturday morning and opened with a remark about Davis’s home run against the Angels in a 4-3 loss the night before and how lately it’s seemed like he has been going yard every other night. In the pipeline, the Brewers have six catchers in their Top 30 prospects, including #5 prospect Mario Feliciano.Khris Davis has my back. He is reliable as they come defensively, immeasurably valuable as a pitcher developer, and productive enough off the bench, considering his defensive value and the few plate appearances he’s likely to get behind Narváez. In the backup catcher spot, the Brewers know what they’re getting with Manny Piña. Considering the small sample size and the wear and tear of catching most games, Narváez will probably even out nearer to his 162-game average offensive production. Narváez entered the year confident that he would fare better in a 162 game season, and to begin 2021, he’s slashing. Narváez has made significant defensive improvements since joining the Brewers but had a horrible 2020 at the plate. He could develop offensively with more regular at-bats, an opportunity that is more likely for him with another team.įor the Brewers, it’s a loss, but a highly reasonable decision made easier by what appears to be a bounceback year for Omar Narváez. The poor offensive showing in the shortened season is part of a downward trend at the plate for Nottingham, who profiled as an offense-first catcher when he was first drafted in 2013. 188 and struck out in 42% of plate appearances in 2020. He’s a defense-first catcher and has developed into an excellent pitch manager, but he hit just. The Brewers got a longer look at Nottingham in 2020 after a season-ending Manny Piña injury. It’s likely someone will bite on Nottingham, a skilled defensive catcher with offensive potential. Another trip to the minors means that another team can pick him up on waivers. Nottingham was out of minor league options. PoTnaTZrUC- Milwaukee Brewers April 22, 2021 Catcher Jacob Nottingham has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment.
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