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The A and the sailors are officially a few hours from the opening of the MLB season in Japan. For fans (and insomniacs) who plan to stay up all night to watch the game, here are four questions to watch out for:
Who beats third?
The departure of Jed Lowrie leaves a huge hole in the middle of the composition of A. Oakland has some candidates to fill that void, including the newly acquired second baseman, Jurickson Profar. However, Stephen Piscotty and Matt Olson are probably the best options at this stage.
With left-half Marco Gonzales facing the left-hander in the first half of the season, expect the right-handed player to hit Piscotty batting third. If he's doing well, it might be his job to lose, although Olson thinks he's getting some opportunities against right-handed pitchers, at least early in the year.
Who starts at Catcher?
The A also lost their starting catcher last season while Jonathan Lucroy signed with rival Angels. With Chris Herrmann injured, the starting job will be Nick Hundley or Josh Phegley, both of whom performed well in spring training.
Hundley thinks he can start the season with his best offensive numbers over the years. The 35-year-old has a career OPS of 0.706 compared to 0.635 for Phegley.
Mike Fiers is he ready to become a number one starter?
Proud has the honor to start the day of opening. The 33-year-old has just finished the best season of his career with a record of 12 points out of 8 with a 3.56 MPM between Detroit and Oakland in 2018. He was awarded a $ 14.1 million contract over two years this season.
During his career, Fiers was primarily a fourth or fifth starter. This year he finally has the chance to be an ace. The right – hander certainly has the right mindset to handle any extra pressure, but the A would like to see him start on the right foot.
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