All spring and throughout the young season, the A's coaching staff has emphasized that the team's inexperienced starters must throw strikes. Those who don't follow that plan aren't around very long.
On Tuesday, Dana Eveland became the latest Oakland pitcher sent down. The left-hander had walked 16 and struck out 15, not the kind of ratio the A's are looking for. Worse, opponents were batting .380 against Eveland. That's the worst opponents' average by any AL starter. Manager Bob Geren told reporters before Tuesday's game that Eveland must improve "all his pitches, really."
Last summer, Eveland spent two-plus weeks at Class AAA Sacramento fine-tuning his delivery, and he went 2-1 with a 3.98 ERA after his return (his ERA before his demotion was 4.46). Geren said that Eveland needs to find a consistent delivery that allows him to throw strikes.
Dan Giese will take Eveland's scheduled start Wednesday against Texas, but it is considered a spot start by the right-hander. The A's are considering bringing up right-hander Edgar Gonzalez, a former Arizona starter, to fill the spot in the rotation, but they don't need to rush a decision: The team has two days off next week.
The A's still do not know if Brett Anderson will need to be pushed back, skipped or placed on the disabled list with a blister on his left index finger that knocked him out of his past two starts.
ANGELS 5, A'S 3: Oakland dropped its third game in a row, though OF Matt Holliday, who entered the game with a .223 average, did hit a two-run homer in the ninth to snap an 0-for-13 streak. The A's made two errors (by 3B Bobby Crosby and 2B Gregorio Petit), and the Angels scored two unearned runs against Dallas Braden.
