The Oakland Athletics are currently 39-31 and in second place in the American League West.

The A’s were not supposed to be the team pushing the Los Angeles Angels for the division title, as general manager Billy Beane made offseason moves that began a rebuilding project.

However, the Athletics are getting timely hitting and solid starting pitching as well as strong bullpen work to surprise a lot of people around baseball.

Third baseman Eric Chavez has finally returned from the disabled list and has been hot. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up and avoid another trip to the DL.