The Athletics bullpen has been lackluster this season.

This year, the Athletics bullpen has pitched 507.1 innings while posting a league-worst 5.64 ERA. This ERA is 0.40 higher than that of the 29th-ranked team, the Royals, who hold an ugly 5.24 ERA, just to add perspective. However, after the last two series, the Athletics' bullpen is starting to look like the solution rather than the problem.

Roles Are Being Defined

Aside from the lack of talent, the biggest reason this Athletics group has been unable to find consistency is that Mark Kotsay has not allowed it. For example, the Athletics have had a handful of players act as the closer: Elvis Alvarado, Hogan Harris, Mason Barnett, and Luis Medina.

This carousel of late-inning relievers has hurt this team considerably. Pitchers simply cannot anticipate when they will be taking the mound. The fifth inning? No. How about the bottom of the ninth with a one-run lead? Yes. These radical changes in each pitcher's situation have made it hard to find consistency among the bullpen as a whole.

And while, yes, talent limitations and overall production consistency have made it hard for Kotsay to define those roles, if he had allowed these pitchers more time, we could have seen change. The only reason Alvarado is now the team's closer is that Harris blew a save vs. Kansas City on Aug. 18. Again, this proves how trigger-happy Kotsay has been with the bullpen.

The Talent Is Clearly There

The metaphor, "a few bad apples ruin the bunch," is exactly what the Athletics have dealt with all season. And even though the Athletics do not have a reliever with a sub-3.00 ERA this season, there is a lot of talent that, when placed in the right situations, can deliver a very solid game.

Take Brady Basso, for example: In August, he has pitched 12.0 innings and posted a decent 3.00 ERA. But if you take away his opener outing vs. the Astros, he has posted a 0.82 ERA in 11.0 innings. If used correctly, Basso can be lethal. In the series finale vs. the Twins, he would pitch 2.0 innings while allowing a single hit in 15 pitches. Once again, proves that when in the right spots, the Athletics bullpen can look good.

With Harris and Medina both looking like solid options as well, the Athletics will be able to get great outings from the bullpen consistently. With Alvarado also looking like a top-tier closer to finish off the year, there are not many spots where the Athletics are vulnerable, unless they are pushed to their absolute limit. But as mentioned earlier, with Basso being able to pitch multiple innings, this should not happen often.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is that while the Athletics’ bullpen still grades as the worst in baseball, there are signs it is moving in the right direction. That progress is encouraging, but it does not change the urgency of the offseason. If the Athletics want to take the next step, reinforcing the bullpen remains the top priority.