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Not much has gone right for the A’s this season — but this may just be rock bottom.
In the bottom of the second inning during Saturday’s game against the Nationals, starting pitcher Luis Medina hurled a 100 mph fastball to Washington shortstop Illdemaro Vargas, then made a slick play, snagging it as it came back to him.
After that? Medina committed a cardinal baseball sin.
The 24-year-old pitcher — a former Yankees prospect — lackadaisically jogged toward first base, allowing Vargas to speed past him to touch the bag a step quicker than Medina in a disastrous moment that should have been an easy out.
“What is [Medina] doing? He never went to the bag, he never threw it to [Tyler] Soderstrom, and I’ll tell you, [first base coach] Eric Young Jr. is screaming in delight at Vargas for hustling!” a bewildered Bob Carpenter, the Nationals’ play-by-play commentator said.
Medina, who was a highly regarded prospect when he was part of the Yankees’ trade package to acquire Frankie Montas, has not been a boon to the A’s chances this year.
Medina, who allowed one run in four innings, has struggled this season and has 5.31 ERA in 83 innings.
Oakland, which entered Saturday at 33-83, an abysmal .284 winning percentage, has a chance to be one of the worst baseball teams of all time.
The all-time worst record in baseball history is held by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who won just 20 games and lost 134.
The worst Athletics team of all time was the 1916 Philadelphia A’s, who went 36-117.
So far, none of the prospects the Yankees gave up to acquire Montas and Trivino have made a significant impact in Oakland.
Ken Waldichuk has a 6.30 ERA in 94.1 innings, JP Sears has a 4.23 ERA in 125.1 innings, and second baseman Cooper Bowman is still in Double-A.
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