As the 2010 Oakland Athletics approach the MLB All-Star break, at 38-41 and ten games out of first in the AL West, they do not have much to hang their hats on for the season so far. The A’s had a terrible June, going 10-17, with half of those victories coming against some of the worst teams in baseball – the Cubs, Pirates, and Orioles.

While tenth and eleventh in the league in team batting average (.263) and hits (708) respectively are not too bad, the Oakland Athletics are just leaving too many guys on base and not hitting for enough power, both evidenced by their ranking just 25th in team RBIs (302) and only 27th in the homeruns category (51). Simply put, Oakland is getting men on base – though at 27th in the league, they are walking far less than a typical A's team (228) – but just cannot get them all the around once they get there.

To show the diversity of the Athletics in the batter’s box, the team has four different hitters who top the five main hitting categories, but unfortunately none of their totals are overly impressive or translating into enough runs; right-fielder Ryan Sweeney (79 H, 103 TB), heads the list with his .294 average; catcher Kurt Suzuki (.263 BA, 35 RBI) leads with only 10 homers; third-baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff (.276 BA, 8 HR, 122 TB) tops both the runs-batted-in (39) and hits (84) charts; first-baseman Daric Barton (.282 BA, 80 H, 116 TB) is Oakland’s on-base percentage guy (.386).

Other than lack of power at the plate, this team is also not pitching well enough to gain them any ground in the AL West. Other than starting righty Trevor Cahill, who has a team-leading 7-2 record and 2.88 ERA, and Gio Gonzalez (6-5), who also tops Oakland’s strikeout list (79), most would say there are some holes in this staff. However, one must take into consideration that with ten and nine quality starts respectively, the disappointing records of Ben Sheets (3-7, 4.98 ERA) and Dallas Braden (4-7, 3.83 ERA) can probably be attributed more to lack of offense than their actual performance.

Maybe this team can regroup during the break. Maybe they can get a true power-hitting brute in a trade. Realistically, the maybe’s are out the door because they need to do both, and maybe then even some more. Get some Oakland Athletics tickets now and come on out to Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to see just how things turn out for the A’s in the second half of the season.