Through the first eight games of the 2021 season, nobody in the majors was worse at scoring than the Oakland A’s. They managed only 19 runs, slightly over two per game, ranking last out of 30 teams.
However, a peek under the hood suggested things weren’t as bad as they looked. There were a few hot bats, and the overall group was making reasonably hard contact and not striking out too much, and they did face a few Cy Young winners along the way. In a community poll, the majority of Athletics Nation agreed things would get at least slightly better right away, and around half were confident the lineup would return to normal output within the next week.