The A’s finished the first half of the 2012 season in third place in the A.L. West with a 43-43 record, 9 games behind the Rangers. The A’s had a lot of younger players step up and their pitching staff has been rock solid so far in 2012. Here are the players that made the biggest impacts for the A’s in the first half of the 2012 season, in my opinion:

Team MVP: Ryan Cook & Josh Reddick - 25-year old righty reliever Ryan Cook and 25-year old lefty swinging RF Josh Reddick were both acquired in trades with the A’s over the winter. Ryan Cook has taken over as the A’s closer. He has pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 2-2 with 8 saves, a 1.41 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. Cook has only given up 13 hits in his first 38 1/3 innings for the A’s so far this year! Josh Reddick has been the A’s best hitter so far this year. He played in 83 games for the A’s in the first half of the 2012 season and he was 84 of 314 (.268 avg, .880 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 20 homers, 43 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.

Biggest Surprise: Brandon Moss & Travis Blackley - 28-year old lefty swinging 1B Brandon Moss and 29-year old lefty starting pitcher Travis Blackley essentially were acquired off the junk heap by the A’s and they have both really stepped up. Moss has played in 26 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 22 of 87 (.253 avg, .959 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 10 homers and 18 RBIs. Blackley has pitched in 11 games (7 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. The A’s hope that both Moss and Blackley can keep up the good work in the second half of the 2012 season.

Biggest Disappointment: Jemile Weeks - 25-year old switch-hitting 2B Jemile Weeks had a solid rookie season in 2011, but he is having a rough time so far in 2012. Weeks has played in 79 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 69 for 311 (.222 avg, .620 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. The A’s need Weeks to pick up the pace with the bat in the second half of 2012.

The Oakland A’s just didn’t hit the ball too well against the Seattle Mariners so far this year as they only hit .221 (.642 OPS) with 15 runs scored in their first four games. The result is that they are 1-3 to start the 2012 season. Rookie CF Yoenis Cespedes looks like the real deal so far this year as he is 4 for 13 (.308 avg, 1.477 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 3 homers and 7 RBIs. He is ultra aggressive and he does have some holes in his swing as he has whiffed 7 times without walking so far this year. If the A’s don’t have more guys start to hit, Cespedes is going to quit seeing strikes to hit. The A’s have wasted pretty solid pitching as they have a 3.79 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP so far this year. They are pounding the strike zone as they have only walked 6 batters in their first 38 innings pitched so far this year. Brandon McCarthy (0-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP) and Bartolo Colon (1-1 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP) have given the A’s three solid starts so far this year and one really bad one (by Colon). New closer Grant Balfour has looked sharp so far this year as he has worked in 3 games in which he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 0.00 ERA and a 0.33 WHIP. The red hot Kansas City Royals are coming in for a visit starting tonight.

The A’s lost 3-1 in 11 innings in the season opener against the Mariners, but they rebounded today and beat the Mariners 4-1. The A’s only scored five runs in the two games against the Mariners as they only hit .188 with a .610 OPS. Cliff Pennington was 3 for 9 (.333 avg) with 1 run scored, 1 double and 1 stolen base. Yoenis Cespedes looked solid in his first couple of games with the A’s as he was 2 for 6 (.333 avg) with 1 run scored, 1 double, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Josh Reddick also got off to a good start in Japan as he was 2 for 7 (.286 avg) with 1 run scored, 1 double, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. The A’s didn’t hit well as a team but the pitching staff picked them up. The A’s compiled a 1.80 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP in the season opening series. Bartolo Colon (8 IP, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, six strikeouts and a win) and Brandon McCarthy (7 IP, 6 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks and 3 whiffs) gave the A’s a couple of outstanding starts to kick off the 2012 season. New closer Grant Balfour pitched in both games for the A’s working two scoreless innings and getting 1 save. Overall, I think the A’s are happy to come back to the States with a split.

The Oakland A’s finished the first half of the 2011 season with a 39-53 record which has them in last place in the A.L. West, 12 games behind the Rangers. The A’s are also 16 games behind the Yankees for the A.L. Wild Card. The A’s have been really disappointing with the bats so far this year as they are only hitting .233 with a .636 OPS as a team and that’s pretty anemic. They are only averaging 3.4 runs scored per game and they have wasted a lot of good pitching this year. The A’s have a 3.14 ERA as a team and a 1.26 WHIP which doesn’t exactly go with a 39-53 record. Here’s the players who made the biggest impact in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez has been outstanding for the A’s so far this year. He has started 18 games for the A’s in 2011 and he is 8-6 with a 2.47 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Gonzalez has only given up 92 hits in his first 113 innings this year and he has whiffed 111 batters and he has been electric so far. He has walked 52 times this year but it hasn’t hurt him yet.

Biggest Surprise: The A’s turned to 27-year old righty Guillermo Moscoso when injuries ravaged the starting rotation this year and he has done an outstanding job. Moscoso has pitched in 10 games (8 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 3-4 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only given up 34 hits in his first 50 innings with the A’s this year as he has been very solid. The A’s hope that Moscoso keeps rolling in the second half of the 2011 season.

Biggest Disappointment: This is a tie between 25-year old lefty swinging 1B Daric Barton and 29-year old righty swinging 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff began the season as starters for the A’s but they are both in AAA-ball now. Barton has played in 67 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 50 for 236 (.212 avg, .592 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 0 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Kouzmanoff has played in 46 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 30 for 136 (.221 avg, .615 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. I don’t expect either of them will get back to the majors until they are either dealt to another team or until rosters expand on September 1st.

The Oakland A’s went 1-2 this weekend despite only being outscored 12-11 by the Mariners. The A’s just couldn’t solve the Mariners’ pitching staff as they only hit .237 with a .629 OPS over the weekend. The bullpen also conspired to hurt the A’s as they were 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. The A’s need to start hitting and the bullpen needs to pitch to it’s ability for the team to get back on the right track.

The A’s are 43-46 on the season which has them in third place in the A.L. West, 7.5 games behind the Rangers. The A’s just don’t have any power and it has ruined the season so far. Here is a look at the surprises and disappointments for the A’s so far this year:

Pleasant Surprises: 22-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Cahill has really developed in his second year in the majors. He has started 15 games for the A’s this year and he is 9-3 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Cahill has only given up 70 hits in 95 innings this season as he’s missing a ton of bats. 24-year old lefty starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez has finally learned how to pitch. Gonzalez has started 18 games for the A’s this year and he is 7-6 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He still has walked 53 batters in 107 innings so Gonzalez is far from perfect. 27-year old righty swinging infielder Adam Rosales has played all over the place this season and he’s doing a solid job for the A’s. Rosales has played in 68 games for the A’s this season and he is 60 of 217 (.276 avg, .744 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 6 homers and 27 RBIs. 31-year old DH/OF Jack Cust started the season in the minors which was dumb of the A’s. Cust has played in 44 games for the A’s this year and he is 40 of 136 (.294 avg, .831 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers and 18 RBIs.

Disappointments: The A’s expected 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff to give them some thump in the starting lineup but it just hasn’t happened yet. Kouzmanoff has played in 86 games this season and he is 90 of 338 (.266 avg, .688 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 8 homers and 40 RBIs. The A’s signed starting pitcher Ben Sheets with one eye on the trade deadline but I don’t think they’re going to get much for him unless he pitches well in the next couple of weeks. Sheets has started 19 games for the A’s this season and he is 4-8 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. 31-year old righty reliever Michael Wuertz had a career year for the A’s in 2009 but he has been pretty awful this year when healthy. Wuertz has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 2-1 with 1 save, a 5.60 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. 32-year old DH Eric Chavez started the season as the A’s full time DH and he was awful before injuring himself. Chavez has played in 33 games for the A’s this year and he is 26 of 111 (.234 avg, .610 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs.

The Oakland Athletics are off to a 9-5 start this season which has them in first place in the A.L. West, 2.5 games ahead of both the Angels and Mariners. The A’s have gotten great pitching and better hitting than they expected as they have outscored opponents 62-47 this season. The Yankees come in for a 3-game set in Oakland starting tomorrow so we will get a chance to judge them against the defending World Champions. The Indians come in for a 3-game set over the weekend. We will see if the A’s are in first place after this week.

The A’s are now 5-2 on the season as they are in first place in the A.L. West, 1.5 games up on the Rangers. The A’s have outscored their opponents 39-25 so far this year. The offense has been a surprise for the A’s and they can maintain a good record if they continue to hit because they have a solid pitching staff. The A’s have a 2.98 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP as a team so far this season. The A’s will stay busy as they have to play 7 games again this week. It starts with 3 games at Safeco Field against the Mariners starting tonight and then they fly home to play 4 games against the struggling Orioles.

The A’s pushed around the Mariners this week taking three out of four games from them. They did it with good clutch hitting and solid pitching. The A’s beat the Mariners at their own game but they now travel to Anaheim to deal with a Angels’ team that is probably in a bad frame of mind after the Twins took 3 out of 4 games from them this week. It will be interesting to see how the A’s do against the Angels as they hope to build on their early season success this weekend.

Chad Gaudin was outstanding in the first half of the 2007 season as he was 8-3 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP in 18 starts before the All-Star Break. The second half of the season has been a disaster however as Gaudin has started 14 games and he is 3-9 with a 6.81 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. The A’s better look for someone to replace Gaudin in the rotation for next season because he has proven that he can’t start for a whole season. He’s better used as a long reliever/spot starter. The A’s hope they can hold off the Texas Rangers for third place in the American League West. They are now 74-79 which has them 16 games behind the Angels and only 3 games ahead of the Rangers.