The centerfielder isn’t the A’s only problem, but he’s certainly one of them
Things are not going well for the Oakland Sacramento Athletics at the moment. They enter the weekend having lost nine straight games. They’ve fallen into last place in the AL West, and the few fans who the owner hasn’t managed to alienate are unhappy. There are many targets for their ire, and at the forefront appears to be centerfielder J.J. Bleday.
Bleday is so good at finding ways to hurt the A’s every day
— your blissful A’s fan (@tuckerroole) May 22, 2025
Part of the aggravation around Bleday is that he once seemed like such a promising player. Bleday was a first round pick of the Miami Marlins in 2019 and was almost immediately dubbed a top 50 prospect in baseball. His minor league production didn’t match the hype, and his luster began to dim during the following years. He reached the majors in 2022, but didn’t do much to increase excitement when he recorded a meager .586 OPS in 65 games.
The Marlins were so unimpressed, they traded him to the A’s in exchange for middling reliever A.J. Puk. His first season with the A’s was similarly disappointing. He started the season at Triple A and after dominating there for about a month, he was called up to the big-league club. The minor league production didn’t translate, and he batted just .195 in 82 games.
In 2024, he showed some signs of coming around. He hit 20 home runs, and while a .243 batting average may not seem great, it was much improved from the sub-.200 performances from years prior.
He has not built on that success in 2025. His average is down to .202, and his defense – never rated all that highly – seems to have deteriorated even further.
The wheels are officially falling off.
Can’t make these kind of mental mistakes or have these communication breakdowns. Angels tack on two huge insurance runs late as the A’s stare down a seven-game losing skid.#Athletics pic.twitter.com/eCVdMxP5Bm
— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) May 21, 2025
It seems like the losing streak has prompted the A’s to make some changes:
The A’s are shaking up their roster amid a nine-game losing streak and calling up centerfielder Denzel Clarke, one of their top prospects, sources tell ESPN. Clarke, 25, is hitting .286/.436/.419 at Triple-A and is excellent defensively. More moves could be coming as well.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 23, 2025
It’s probably not a good sign for Bleday’s future when the team just called up a prospect who happens to play the same position.
X-Men character of the series
Arakko
This one is a bit tough to explain. There was a sentient island called Okkaro, but the island was split into two when demons attacked it. In order to prevent the demons from invading a destroying Earth, one half – named Arakko – was sealed away in another dimension.
There’s an analogy somewhere in here about the A’s leaving Philadelphia and now cast away in exile. I’d go into more detail, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the entire Krakoan era of X-Men comics.
Additional thought about the series
The Phillies might never again play a team as bad as the 2025 Colorado Rockies. But the way they’ve played lately, the Athletics aren’t that much of a step up. As mentioned, they’re on a nine-game losing streak with just two wins in their last fifteen.
Friday night seems almost too easy. The Phillies, winners of seven straight, will have Zack Wheeler on the mound against a team in a tailspin. It feels like we should be able to pencil it into the win column already, which means it’s a prime setup for a “Everything goes right for one night” game for the A’s.
Or maybe not. Despite fans reflexively thinking that any series against a bad team is a trap, the Phillies have done rather well against the bottom feeders of the league the last two years. The winning streak has to end at some point, but maybe that point doesn’t have to be this weekend?