The Oakland A’s have been bad at manufacturing runs for a long time, to the extent that they’re kind of famous for it.
Two decades ago they could only afford undervalued walks and homers, so they went with a Three True Outcomes offense for a while. That strategy adapted over time as the market changed, but small-ball never fully came back into vogue in Oakland. Even when there was an occasional speedster or slap hitter, from Byrnes to Rajai to Coco to Burns, their skillsets always felt like square pegs in a round lineup and often went underutilized.