Why Are the Oakland Athletics so Bad This Season?

After the Oakland Athletics traded stars like Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija and Brandon Moss away during the offseason, few expected the team to return to the playoffs in 2015. The results have been even worse than expected, though, as the A's currently own the worst record in the American League at 26-39.

Bad play and bad luck have afflicted the A's equally this year. Oakland's 4-18 record in one-run games suggests some regression toward a winning record, but not every game has been so close.

On offense, surprise resurgences from right fielder Josh Reddick and catcher Stephen Vogt along with the coming of age of leadoff hitter Billy Burns have helped the A's maintain decent run production. The biggest problems, however, have come in the field, late innings and in the trainer's room.

Horrible Defense

It's hard to describe just how disappointing Marcus Semien has been at shortstop this year. Even simple ground balls in his direction are cause for concern, and Athletics first basemen have gotten too much practice picking his low throws out of the dirt.

In 2012, shortstops Alcides Escobar and Asdrubal Cabrera tied with third baseman Trevor Plouffe for the American League lead with 19 errors. Somehow, Semien already has 21 errors by the middle of June, far and away the worst total in the majors.

Semien's miscues have proven costly to the A's, as evidenced by his -7.0 error runs above average (ErrR), per FanGraphs. For comparison, Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond has the second-worst ErrR in the majors at -4.9.

It's not as if Semien is the only Oakland player who seems to be fielding with an oven pan. Third baseman Brett Lawrie has been a huge step down from Donaldson, a 2014 Gold Glove finalist, and is another reason the A's have the worst fielding percentage in baseball.

Lawrie's -3.3 ultimate zone rating (UZR) is the 10th-worst in the American League among positional players. Even utility man Ben Zobrist, who was brought in to plug the leaks at any position, has instead struggled all over the diamond. 

Shaky Relief Pitching

A year ago, A's starting pitchers could turn the ball over to the bullpen and feel secure that their leads would be held. Late-inning specialists Dan Otero, Fernando Abad, Luke Gregerson, Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle combined for a 2.39 ERA in 329 innings pitched, and Doolittle made an All-Star Game appearance in his first season as the team's closer.

Abad is the only pitcher from that group on the A's active roster today, and with an ERA nearly four runs above his 1.57 mark last year, his spot may be in jeopardy.

Gregerson signed a three-year, $18.5 million contract with the Houston Astros after the end of the season and is currently sixth in the AL with 15 saves. Doolittle has missed virtually the entire year with a bum shoulder and was recently placed on the 60-day disabled list.

Cook was sent down to the minors after allowing 13 runs in five spring training innings and has remained there with the exception of a brief, unsuccessful call-up in late April. He was recently joined by Otero, who had a 1.48 WHIP at the time of his demotion.

As a result, Oakland has gone from third in the majors in bullpen ERA to dead last this year. The A's have been forced to rely heavily on Evan Scribner, who has spent most of his career shuttling between Triple-A and the bigs, and Tyler Clippard, who has filled in decently as a closer but owns an unsightly 1.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Injuries

Every team deals with hurt players, but the injury bug seems to have bit the A's especially hard. Doolittle's shoulder problems were already mentioned, and he's not the only key player to see time on the shelf.

Left fielder and team catalyst Coco Crisp, currently on the 60-day DL, suffered a neck injury so severe it was rumored he might need career-ending surgery.

Starters like Zobrist and Ike Davis have also missed time, forcing reserves Max Muncy and Eric Sogard into more action than their performances have warranted. 

Relievers Edward Mujica and Pat Venditte threw a few scoreless innings for the A's before finding themselves on the 15-day DL. If both return at full strength, they could provide a sizable boost for the shaky bullpen.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The A's were also expected to receive a midseason boost from starting pitchers Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin, both of whom excelled in 2013 before missing all of 2014 after Tommy John surgery. While Griffin was recently activated and optioned to Triple-A Nashville, Parker fractured his elbow while rehabbing and will likely miss the rest of the season.

Many of Oakland's problems seem to build on each other. The defense is shaky, so the pitching lets in more runs. The pitchers on the mound aren't top quality in part because the best ones are hurt. And having defensive stalwarts like Crisp on the DL hurts the team's overall defense.

It's a mess.

All advanced statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.