A's Offer Some Excitement in Spring Opener

While the Oakland A's lost their spring opener 5-1 to the Colorado Rockies, there were some things that you can point to as positives to take away from the first game. 

Right off the top, Joe Boyle and Joey Estes, two guys with a chance to be in the rotation at the beginning of the season, didn't allow a single walk and each tossed two scoreless innings. For a team that struggled mightily with free passes last season, that's a great way to begin. 

Boyle was touching 101 on the radar gun, and Estes didn't allow a baserunner while striking out a pair. Those two pitchers, who figure to be in Oakland at some point this season, started their camp off on the right foot.

While Osvaldo Bido allowed a run in his one inning of work, he also struck out two, and that one run came on a solo shot. Bido will likely be a depth option for the club in 2024, but he has a little big-league experience, tossing 50 ^2/3 innings with the Pirates in 2023. 

A's pitchers walked five Rockies overall, but three of them came were issued by Michel Otañez. All three runs came around to score. That happens in the late innings of spring games occasionally. The big takeaway from the pitching side of things is that the players that are expected to contribute in 2024 executed very well.

On the hitting side, the A's mustered just three hits, but one of them was a big fly from none other than Esteury Ruiz, who was trying to add some power to his game late last season. He finished 2023 with five homers overall, and three of them came in September in just 52 at-bats. For him to start spring off with a dinger could be a sign of things to come this season. 

After hitting two home runs last spring, it took Ruiz until May 12 to collect his first dinger with the A's. 

The expected pitchers for the next few days include Kyle Muller, who is out of options, on Sunday, starter Ross Stripling and Rule 5 draftee Mitch Spence on Monday, JP Sears on Tuesday, with Paul Blackburn and Luis Medina on Wednesday. Medina is also out of options and fighting for that last spot in the rotation, while Blackburn, Sears, and Stripling are locks. New addition Alex Wood is scheduled to throw a side session on Sunday. 

The A's will visit the Dodgers on Sunday with the game scheduled to begin at 12:05.