Game 19: Feeling Stuck
The beatings will continue until morale improves
By Roberto Santiago
The Ballers pitching woes continued Tuesday in Missoula. Langston Burkett (1-1) was pressed into service as a starter after Oakland’s staff has been shuffled all out of order by injuries, promotions, and early struggles. Burkett lasted 1.1 innings, giving up 7 runs (5 earned). Liam Rocha and Matt Lozovoy followed with similar results. Rocha gave up 2 runs over 2.0 innings and Lozovoy surrendered 6 runs over 3.1. OF Noah Blythe made his second pitching appearance of the year, helping rest the bullpen by chipping in 1.1 innings.
On offense, the Ballers were unable to fully capitalize on 5 errors by the PaddleHeads. The top of the order continued to feast in the fourth inning with Esai Santos hitting a three-run bomb with Tremayne Cobb on base. A Cam Bufford sac fly later in the inning made it 8-5 Missoula, and it looked like the Ballers might slug their way to contention again. It didn’t happen, as Oakland was held off the scoreboard the rest of the way. In the end, Missoula took the game 17-5 on a cloudy day that featured one of the shortest rain delays on the books, clocking in a little longer than 10 minutes.
Fans chatting on the YouTube broadcast were deflated seeing another poor pitching performance. The thing is, it’s hard to know where to go for answers. Manager Aaron Miles and pitching coach Jim Dedrick have had their plans for the staff thrown completely out alignment so far: as Dispatches has noted before, Charlie Hurley and Joel Tornero are on the injury list. Nick Bautista was traded. Gabe Tanner has moved on to affiliated ball. With that, the Ballers have only Aidan Risse and C.J. Blowers left among the starters they sent out during their opening home stand. The relievers have now thrown more than half of the team’s innings.
For context, a major league bullpen typically throws 40% of the innings or fewer over the course of a season. Pitchers are also creatures of habit who often perform best when they have defined roles. Guys like to know if they are the 7th inning guy, set up man, some variation of the left-handed-one-out-guy (LOOGY), or closer. With the upheaval and constant need to use multiple arms each game, no one has been able to settle into a role. Figuring out how to get the pitchers rested and into a rhythm feels like a Gordian Knot, especially in the Pioneer League’s short-season, no-breaks, only-Mondays-off schedule. It’s a new challenge for the B’s, whose pitching was a strength last season, but with the success they’ve had, Miles and Dedrick can be trusted to figure it out.
Oakland is 7-12 on the season and 1-6 so far on their two-week Montana tour. They have given up double-digit runs in each of their last six games.
But let’s end on a good note. The Montana wildlife tour continues with a picture of this Glacier National Park mountain goat who looked stuck but then became un-stuck and went on to have a great rest of the day.
With photos and videos courtesy of Gareth Kwok and the Oakland Ballers.
Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.
