MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

The Amazing A’s finished up Spring Training with a 10-9 shootout win over the White Sox on Monday afternoon. The A’s concluded Cactus League play with a 14-16 record, but as with many teams, Manager Mark Kotsay stuck to making sure minor leaguers got playing time before being sent back down.

So how did the team look?

As an offense, we look just as strong, if not stronger, than last season. Spring Training aside for a moment, the A’s added 2B Jeff McNeil to bring stability at the plate, for the position.

Traded along with cash by the Mets for RHP Yordan Rodriguez last December, McNeil adds a proven bat and some guaranteed foot traffic for the big boys. 

McNeil has had a TopTen batting average in the National League three times, and batted over .310 each time. He won the NL batting title in 2022 (.322), and he has been a Top Ten in On Base Percentage twice, hits once, and triples once.

This adds a consistent bat to the lineup, and I anticipate the team’s run production improving from the 12th-ranked team in runs per game last season.

Max Muncy looks to cover third base this season, and he had an absolute monster Spring. His .380 batting average was second in all of Spring Training, and he was in the top ten in runs, hits, home runs, and the trifecta metric of OBP/SLG/OPS.

These two positions were the Athletics question marks for an already potent offense, and if both excel at Sutter Health Park, the team could score 800 runs.

As a team in Spring Training, the A’s led baseball in hits and home runs (55) and were third in batting average (.283), and if not for pitching staff problems, would have been well over .500.

The A’s needed to secure some of the young bats before they hit their way out of the franchise price range, and did so by paying LF Tyler Soderstrom a 7-yr, $86M extension, and with All-Star SS Jacob Wilson agreeing to his own 7-yr, $70M extension.

The remaining lineup is as follows: C Shea Langeliers, 1B Nick Kurtz, SS Jacob Wilson, LF Tyler Soderstrom, RF Lawrence Butler, and DH Brent Rooker.

Austin Wynns is the back-up catcher as expected, and the bench came in just as the pundits thought: with Darryl Hernaiz and Andy Ibanez being the infield depth, while Carlos Cortes gives the outfield rest days.

In ten Spring games, Hernaiz went 9-for-22 (.409) with four doubles, and hit a game-winning home run in the WBC tourney to start the season doing well at the plate.

Andy Ibanez also had an outstanding Spring, hitting 16-for-52 (.308) with four doubles, two home runs, and eight RBI’s. The two were competing for the third base job but couldn’t outplay Muncy.

Carlos Cortes had a “meh” (.158) Spring, but he is a quality left-handed bat who hit .309 last season, posted a solid .866 OPS, and can be inserted if Denzel Clarke continues to struggle at the plate. Clarke batted 2-for-Spring (.079) and only batted .179 against left-handed pitching last season.

On the mound, the starters are as expected: Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and Luis Morales are the rotation for the Toronto series. Aaron Civale and Jacob Lopez are the remaining 4 and 5 arms in the rotation, but the order is as yet unclear.

Civale signed a 1-yr, $6M contract in February, and while not a superstar, his career WHIP is just 1.03, and opponents bat just .216 against him. He could be a steal as his career high in starts is only five, and that was back in 2023.

The relievers are: JT Ginn, Scott Barlow, Michael Kelly, Elvis Alvarado, Mark Leiter Jr., Luis Medina, Justin Sterner, and Hogan Harris.

The Athletics also signed Barlow in February, to a 1-yr, $2M contract to shore up a bipolar reliever corps that was the second-best bullpen after the All-Star break. He showed promise in some appearances and struggled in others, much like the Athletics.

The team is loaded on offense with many questions on the mound, so it should be an exciting, rollercoaster season.