{"id":425153,"date":"2026-09-03T16:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/425153\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:48:13","slug":"themes-athletics-should-leave-in-texas-and-bring-to-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/425153\/","title":{"rendered":"Themes Athletics Should Leave in Texas and Bring to Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"98\">The Athletics need to figure out how to beat Seattle cleanly. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9d\">With the sun setting on the 2026 season, there are a few things the Athletics have made into a brand. However, there are plenty of issues that need to be left in the past. We will discuss some of the things that happened in Texas that should be brought to Seattle. <\/p>\n<p>Bring | The Long-Ball<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m1k8yqkn84xdgx8kp3.jpg\" alt=\"Hei\" title=\"Hei\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"9u\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 2, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA;  Athletics catcher Jonah Heim (15) reacts towards his family in the stands as rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"a0\">The Athletics offense would be OK vs. the Rangers, averaging a solid 5.0 runs per game. However, it should be noted that this figure is heavily inflated by the nine-run outpour in the series finale, an outpour that included five home runs from Henry Bolte (2), Alika Williams, Zack Gelof, and Jonah Heim. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"a5\">With the series taking place in T-Mobile Park, a ballpark that is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/leaderboard\/statcast-park-factors?type=year&amp;year=2026&amp;batSide=&amp;stat=index_wOBA&amp;condition=All&amp;rolling=3&amp;parks=mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">least hitter-friendly<\/a> places in the league, expecting a massive surge of home runs is unlikely. But as we saw from the Rangers series, the only reliable way the Athletics were able to drive in runs was via the long ball. For this reason, the Athletics need to take this with them.<\/p>\n<p>Leave | Falling Behind Early<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m1k8xxsq54zchaw6kp.jpg\" alt=\"Bolt\" title=\"Bolt\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"am\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Aug 31, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA;  Athletics center fielder Henry Bolte (33) reacts after striking out against the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"as\">In each of the Athletics&#8217; three games vs. the Rangers, they needed to play catch-up. Even in the explosive series finale, the Rangers were the first team to strike. Similar to the Orioles series, the Athletics have gotten way too comfortable, showing life only late in the game. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ax\">With Henry Bolte leading off in each of these games, the Athletics need to figure out how to put him in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/athletics\/onsi\/las-vegas-setting-goals-meet-during-orioles-series\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">scoring position early<\/a> if he is able to get on base. This can come from a bunt or a well-hit sacrifice fly. Either way, pushing Bolte to second or third base is how the Athletics will overcome this problem. <\/p>\n<p>Bring | Multi-Inning Outings<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m1k95bbdhhctq4050k.jpg\" alt=\"Roycrof\" title=\"Roycrof\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"be\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Aug 29, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA;  Athletics pitcher Chris Roycroft (56) delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park.  Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bk\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/athletics\/onsi\/las-vegas-picked-apart-takeaways-lackluster-series-opener\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chris Roycroft <\/a>and Geoff Hartlieb would put together two multi-inning masterclasses, outings in which they saved arms and proved that this bullpen can be maintained despite the inconsistency issues. In the upcoming series against the Mariners, Mark Kotsay cannot stray from keeping relievers in for multiple innings at a time. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bp\">When Kotsay <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/athletics\/onsi\/las-vegas-what-we-learned-during-ugly-two-game-skid\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gets trigger-happy<\/a> with his relievers, it can put the Athletics in a tough spot. This was clear in the Orioles series, when the Athletics used four relief pitchers in Game 1 after having a day off. This does not mean forcing pitchers to pitch multiple innings when they are struggling; rather, if they get through the first inning cleanly, they should stay in until they start to show signs of slowing down.  <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:pointerenter=\"q-CpL6aF72.js#s_1NOcOpHWmT0\" on:touchstart=\"q-hzgQoFEA.js#s_R8AiGTDeM28\" on:focus=\"q-DEq1-AxN.js#s_gxiTM6qMMu8\" on:click=\"q-DqHpZHBS.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"bv\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletics need to figure out how to beat Seattle cleanly. With the sun setting on the 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-425153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}