Oakland A's Are Over .500 With Stellar Pitching: How Good Can They Be With Bats?

The Oakland A's improved their record to 16-15, one game over .500, with their win Wednesday night against the Cleveland Indians.

The A's can thank Trevor Cahill and David DeJesus for their victory, and that's about where the thanks end.

Were it not for DeJesus' first multi-homer game of the season, the A's would have likely wasted another pitching gem from one of their young starters.

Oakland did add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mark Ellis reached base on error, Cliff Pennington walked and Coco Crisp drove in Ellis to give the A's a 3-1 lead, which Grant Balfour would come in and save.

Don't get me wrong—I am happy the A's were able to earn the victory and move above .500. I just wonder how good this team could be with some legitimate hitters in the lineup, or even with some of its current hitters putting forth a more respectable effort.

Oakland blew a brilliant outing by Tyson Ross Tuesday night, wasting wasting yet another winnable game pitched by our rotation. While Brian Fuentes was charged with the loss in that outing, it was hardly his fault. Fuentes was pitching his fifth out of six games and for the fourth time in five days. Bob Geren's decision to stick his closer in the game on such little rest is questionable at best, and more likely just downright incompetent.

Even Geren is not totally to blame though. Had the offense put up more than a single run, the bullpen would not have needed to be so perfect to preserve the win.

Here is the true problem: With as good as the A's pitching has been all season, they have to pitch to near perfection in order to win games.

Of the 31 games the A's have played this season, they have scored three or less runs 18 times. Oakland has been shut out four times already on the early season. The Athletics have only managed more four or more runs 11 times. Ten of those games resulted in wins for the team.

Meanwhile, the pitching has only given up more than three runs in an outing 13 times.

I'm not telling anyone anything that is not already known. The A's need to score more runs.

They are 10-1 in games in which they have scored a minimum of four runs. Unlike other teams that need to out-slug their opponents, Oakland can make four runs stand up more often than not.

The A's could easily have an additional three wins so far this season, which would have them sitting at 19-12 instead of 16-15—two games ahead of Texas for first place, rather than one game back.

The top of the division is within reach and will be all season, but with this pitching staff they should be pulling away from the rest of the division, not fighting to compete.

How can we squeeze more production out of the current roster?

Geren has seemingly already made the most obvious adjustment he has available to him, sitting the slumping Kevin Kouzmanoff in favor of the hot-hitting Andy LaRoche.

The A's can continue to ride LaRoche's hot bat, but he has not proven over an entire season that he is capable of maintaining this level of play; maybe this will be the season, but maybe it won't.

Daric Barton has been a disappointment with the bat at first base for the A's as well.

Conor Jackson has been consistent with the bat and is capable of playing an adequate first base, but is he the answer for the remainder of the season if Barton cannot turn it around?

Barton acknowledged that a possible long-term extension has been on his mind and could be distracting him at the plate, despite his best efforts to keep it out of his thoughts and game-day preparation.

The extension talks suggest that Barton remains in Oakland's long-term plans, and he likely will be given every opportunity to play his way out of his slump. Hopefully he rewards the A's front office for their patience and belief in him.

Mark Ellis is not hitting to his ability, and his 33 years of age are showing with his slow bat. Ellis is still solid defensively and is the veteran leader of this club, but he is also in the final year of his contract. If he cannot pull it together by the end of May, a change may be necessary.

I'm not suggesting dropping Ellis from the roster; I believe he is too valuable of a presence to the club for that. I am suggesting that our second baseman of the future, either Jemile Weeks or Adrian Cardenas, be given a shot at injecting some energy into this lifeless offense.

Cliff Pennington can hold his own defensively as a major-league shortstop, but his hitting adds another position to the list of those that could be in line for an upgrade to boost the offense. There is not a major-league-ready prospect at the position, though; Grant Green is still at least a season away, perhaps longer, from joining the A's lineup.

For the first time this season I am not worried about our outfield though.

Coco Crisp has been a bit streaky so far this season, but I am confident he will produce over the course of the season. Crisp has been the catalyst of our offense many times this season already.

Josh Willingham has come through with clutch hitting and reportedly puts in more time studying opposing pitchers and learning his new league than any other A's hitter. I only expect him to improve as the season progresses. As long as he hits around .260-.270 and connects for 20-25 homers, as he is capable of doing, he will be productive enough to help the A's win several games.

David DeJesus stated before Wednesday's game that he is finally starting to feel comfortable at the plate and felt that he would start to break out with the bat. His two-homer performance validated those statements and offers encouragement that he can revert to being the hitter the A's hoped they were acquiring when they traded Vin Mazzaro to the Royals for his services this past winter.

Hideki Matsui may not be the impact player he was for the Yankees anymore, but he is still a definite upgrade at designated hitter over Jack Cust. He will drive in runs and have an overall bigger impact on our lineup than the 2010 version of the DH position. Besides, Matsui has already won a game for the A's with his bat, in walk-off fashion no less.

Patience...patience...patience... (wearing out...)

When Billy Beane constructed this team, he gave Bob Geren all the pieces that should be necessary to habitually score the four runs per game that would have this team comfortably sitting atop the American League West standings.

How much patience should Beane give the lineup before he begins plugging holes from Sacramento or via trade?

Are A's fans content with squeezing out 2-1, 3-1 or 1-0 victories regularly, knowing that often stellar pitching is being wasted?

Personally, I am not content watching the pitching staff operate with no margin for error nightly. That is the type of pressure that causes a young pitcher to start aiming his pitches in an attempt to be perfect. That is what leads to not trusting your "stuff" and blows your confidence.

So while it is great that the A's are finding ways to win games more often than not this season, they need to find a way to put some more runs on the scoreboard.

For the sake of their season.

For the sake of their manager, who is managing every game as he is managing to save his job (which he may be).

For the sake of their young pitchers, who could relax a little and have some faith in their hitters to pick them up.

For the sake of the fans, who had such high expectations for this team entering the season and now ride the emotional roller coaster that goes along with rooting for this particular A's team.

Like I said at the beginning, though, I am not telling you anything you did not already know...

I know that this team, as currently constructed, is a playoff contender.

I believe that if they could just squeeze out a few more runs, they could be a championship contender.

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @BMcClintock_BR.