Two weeks into the season, the Athletics are 9-8 and surprising some who might have written them off the minute they traded away most of the core over the offseason.
But don’t tell these A’s that they’re rebuilding.
After a 2-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday salvaged the finale in the three-game series in Oakland and pushed the A’s back over the .500 mark, veteran outfielder Stephen Piscotty said that this team has every intention of competing right now.
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Piscotty, whose two-run homer in the fourth inning was the difference in the win, said on A’s Postgame Live that while many players on the team are young and inexperienced, they have talent.
“I think everyone’s bought in to trying to win ball games,” Piscotty said. “It’s as simple as that. This team still has a lot of talent, don’t get me wrong. Some younger faces on this team, but they can all play ball. It’s exciting to be part of his youthful group.”
Piscotty, an eight-year veteran, is one of the more experienced players on this team. He said that from the outset, nobody was quitting on the season despite the roster turnover.
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“The tone was set in spring training that we’re going to compete,” Piscotty said. “We’re going to win. We’re not going to give in at all. Even in the games that have been lost this year, I think the team has really fought back until the bitter end. So I think it’s a good sign of things to come.”
Seventeen games is a small sample size for a 162-game slate. But the A’s have shown so far that what they lack in star power and big-league experience, they make up for in energy and competitiveness.