The Oakland Athletics open up the 2023 Major League Baseball season with a series loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
On opening night two of the five players to watch were key in the Athletics opening night win. Kyle Muller threw five strong innings, striking out three while walking one, he also gave up four hits and did not allow a run. Unfortunately for him he did not factor in the decision.
Esteury Ruiz who seemingly made Cristian Pache expendable, made a tremendous diving catch on Mike Trout to rob him of extra bases. It was determined that there was only a 15 percent catch rate. Here is clip of the play.
15% catch probability per Statcast?
Esteury likes those odds. pic.twitter.com/xHzTNt3T5r
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) March 31, 2023
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Ruiz got the Athletics offense going with a leadoff single. Tony Kemp followed that up with a double and he scored the game tying run.
Following a day off on Friday. Game two had Shintaro Fujinami on the mound for the Athletics. He looked good to start the game, with the highlight being a strikeout of Trout on a 95-mile-per-hour splitter. Unfortunately he struggled against the bottom part of the Angels order and wound up only lasing 2.1 innings. Command became a factor, he ended up walking three and giving up five hits, he did end up with four strikeouts.
The Athletics got shut out in game three. Catcher Shea Langeliers picked up his first two hits of the season, yet made a defensive miscue in the fourth inning nailing Hunter Renfroe in the helmet on a throw to first base on a swinging bunt. Later in that inning, Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe hit a three-run home run.
If Langeliers makes that play then Oakland is out of the inning.
Still the only surprise so far in 2023 is that the Athletics record is 1-2. Monday night the A’s will take on the Cleveland Guardians.