And We're Back.

And first up: the Oakland Athletics.

Their scheduled pitchers for the first two games are Joe Blanton (3/25) and Rich Harden (3/26.) Blanton is not a star pitcher but he's still talented. He won fourteen games last season with an ERA of 3.95. He has very good control; last season he struck out an average of 4.12 batters per game and he walked only 1.18 batters per game. He's not unhittable, though; his fast ball tops out around ninety miles per hour. He gave up an average of seven hits per game last year. On average he gave up a home run just about every other game. He is a horse and can go really deep into games.

Rich Harden, on the other hand, has the potential to be a very, very good pitcher. His issue has been recurring shoulder problems, these have consistently kept him on the disabled list and from reaching his potential. He appeared in only seven games last spring. It's still too early for him to have hurt himself significantly this season and so far he has pitched well this spring. When healthy he has the ability to hit 100 on the radar gun with his fast ball. He also has a splitter that moves a little bit like a knuckleball.

Their designated hitter is Jack Cust. Last year he was more likely to strike out than get a hit. He was also slightly more likely to draw a walk than to get a hit. His batting average was only .256 but his on base percentage was .408. When he does get a piece of a ball he can launch them-almost 26% of the balls he hit were home runs. His slugging average was .504. He also had 82 RBIs. Their starting lineup for tomorrow/today hasn't been published anywhere (that I can find) but if Daric Barton is playing he has the potential to be a very good hitter.