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.