Perhaps there is no more “Oakland A’s” aspect of the team’s surprise 2018 run than its pieced-together starting rotation.
While the front office brass certainly deserve credit for acquiring the bodies, they’re not the ones in the trenches working daily to prolong the careers of starters whose glory days seemed to be long gone. That person would be Scott Emerson – or simply, “Emo” – who assumed his current role of pitching coach just over a year ago, after three years as bullpen coach.
“The first time I saw Trevor [Cahill] throw a bullpen in Spring Training, I said, ‘this guy’s still got his stuff,’” Emerson told Athletics Nation, noting that he first worked with both Cahill and Brett Anderson back in 2008, when the two were in Double-A.