If you were to ask me in mid-March who I thought would be the A’s leader in RBIs through the first month of the season, I probably wouldn’t have said Cliff Pennington.
Well, Pennington, a former first-round pick, is off to a strong start for the A’s this season. Through 24 games, Pennington has managed to hit .250/.337/.461 and has collected a team-leading 15 RBIs.
While his batting average is nothing to excited about, his unexpected display of power, however, should make even the most pessimistic A’s fan feel all giddy inside.
Along with Pennington, second baseman Adam Rosales has emerged as a surprising leader on offense. Rosales, who was not expected to make the team in spring training, has emerged onto the scene now that Mark Ellis is sidelined with an injury.
The young infielder has collected 10 RBIs of his own, and has gone 18-for-55 (.327) in 19 games this season with the A’s. His line of .327/.367/.491 is impressive, considering he was expected to be a utility player at best this year for the A’s.
As a team, the A’s are hitting .254 (eighth in AL), are ninth in on-base percentage (.322), and 11th in slugging percentage (.377). Despite scoring 104 runs (fifth in AL), the A’s offense has slowed down considerably since the start of the season.
The A’s pitching has been solid throughout the first month of the season (14 quality starts), but with recent injuries to Brett Anderson and Justin Duchscherer, the A’s will need more offensive production from other players like Eric Chavez, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Rajai Davis.
Cliff Pennington and Adam Rosales have both gotten off to solid starts, but Oakland is going to need more than just three (the third being Daric Barton) hitters in their lineup.
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