Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants: Similar Records, Different Teams

The San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's both have 11 wins to start the 2012 season.

Don't let the records fool you.  Despite their similar records,  these two teams are polar opposites at this point in the season.

A's

The green and gold are definitely exceeding expectations.  The question in Oakland is, can the club compete without hitting,  and with a pitching staff that has several youngsters that still have a lot to prove?

Guys like Tom Milone and Tyson Ross have pitched well, but will they hold up after teams now have them on their radar?

Brandon McCarthy will be fine and prove himself worthy of being the A's ace.

Bartolo Colon has been terrific and if the A's needed to win one game, Colon would get the ball if I were manager.  It's early though and whether Colon can maintain his current pace is a concern.

Run support will certainly help out these young arms.  The problem is, the A's have been shut out four times and held to one run three times.

So at this point in the season, the A's are are left having to rely on their pitching to get them wins.  I'm not sure this is the right formula; the starting rotation and the bullpen are good, but not that good.

The A's need to start hitting the ball and scoring runs.  Simple, right?

A's Notes

Leadoff man Jemile Weeks is batting .187

The A's are hitting .203 as a team (ranked 30th).

The team's OBP is .271, which is also good for 30th overall.

The team's slugging percentage is .322. Again, good for 30th overall.

Giants

The team across the bay from the A's doesn't really have any of the same problems.  In fact they are just the opposite.  The pitching is solid in San Francisco and past seasons have proven that this will probably continue throughout the season.

Tim Lincecum got off to a slow start, but now has two wins in a row and he is starting to get into a groove.

Even with "The Freak" scuffling a bit, Barry Zito has surprised everyone with his fast start and his team-leading 1.67 ERA.  Zito's 2012 turnaround has given Lincecum time to find his way.

Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong are going to do their thing as well, making pitching a non-concern for the coaching staff and fans.

Hitting is not a problem for the Giants either.  They are batting .261 as a team (ranks 10th overall) and are 16th overall in runs scored.

Remember, this is a team that couldn't buy run support in 2011.  This has not been the case in 2012. The team has scored four or more runs 15 times, and five or more seven times.  Two of those four instances came in losses to start the season when Lincecum and Bumgarner struggled.

Something tells me that as the season progresses, the Giants' pitching staff will not waste too many more four- and five-run games posted by their offense.

Giants Notes

Buster Posey is off to a great start.  Coming back from a season-ending injury in 2011, he is hitting .354 with four home runs.

Pablo Sandoval started the season by hitting safely in his first 20 games.  "Kung Fu Panda" is batting .314 with three home runs.

The Giants have five guys hitting over .280 and all of them except catcher Hector Sanchez (nine) have played in over 18 games.  Posey, Sandoval, Melky Cabrera and Nate Schierholtz are the other four players.

What It All Means

The Giants, for some reason or another, are underachieving.

The A's, for reasons as clear as day, are overachieving.

What this means for both clubs is simple really.  The two teams both have shown that there is hope in the cities by the bay.

The Giants are actually playing pretty good baseball.  Although they are only one game above .500, the hope lies in the fact that something has to give.

The A's on the other hand are only one game under .500, and they are tied for second place in the American League West. 

The A's however,have not played very good baseball. At least offensively anyway. If the team starts to hit even a little, who knows what might happen?

The A's pitching staff has overachieved so far.  But if this situation holds up, or even if their performance drops off just a little, the A's can compete.