AL West Primer: Sacramento Athletics
The A's relocated to Sacramento. Could the club also move up in the standings?
At the All-Star break, the Athletics had an awful 37-61 record. But over the remainder of the season, third-year manager Mark Kotsay guided his squad to a respectable 32-31 finish.
The A’s lineup was bottom-third in runs scored. Yet, the team was top-10 at hitting home runs. This high ranking was earned on the road where the club had the sixth-most homers among visitors (110). At the pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum, the lineup’s home tally ranked 19th.
Much like the offense, the pitching staff placed near the bottom of MLB. A’s pitchers made just 45 quality starts. Only the rotations of Miami (29), Milwaukee (41), and Cleveland (43) had fewer than Oakland did.
The bullpen was more valuable than the rotation, although limiting base runners wasn’t a strength (.323 OBP). But Oakland relievers effectively limited the power of opposing hitters, which is reflected in the relief staff having the fifth-lowest SLG.
Notable departures: Abraham Toro (INF), Scott Alexander (RP), Ross Stripling (SP/RP), Ryan Noda (1B/OF), Austin Adams (RP), Nick Allen (INF), Dany Jiménez (RP), Trevor Gott (RP), Will Klein (RP)
Looking forward
The A’s will basically roll out the same group of hitters they finished 2024 with. Silver Slugger Brent Rooker will spearhead the effort.
Rooker led Oakland in home runs, AVG, OBP, and SLG. Only six big-leaguers with 500-plus plate appearances bested his 165 OPS+ last year: Aaron Judge (223), Shohei Ohtani (190), Juan Soto (178), Yordan Alvarez (172), Bobby Witt Jr. (171), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (166).
On-base Plus Slugging Plus (OPS+) is a normalized version of OPS that adjusts for park and league conditions. OPS+ is scaled so 100 is always average. Therefore, an OPS+ of 150 means a hitter was 50-percent more productive than the average player. An 80 OPS+ would be 20-percent below average.
Three relatively inexperienced hitters are expected to help form the core of Sacramento’s lineup along with Rooker. Each had breakout seasons in 2024: Lawrence Butler (24-years-old), JJ Bleday (27), and Shea Langeliers (27).
Butler had a .262 AVG and .490 SLG to go with a 131 OPS+. The pride of Atlanta’s Westlake High School slugged 24 doubles and 22 home runs. He also stole 18 bases.
Bleday led the Athletics with 43 doubles, while adding 20 home runs. All told, the former Vanderbilt Commodore produced a .243 AVG, .324 OBP, .437 SLG, and 120 OPS+.
Langeliers didn’t reach base at a high rate (.288 OBP). But his 27 home runs signal his bat is potent when contact is made. Only Cal Raleigh (29) hit more homers as a catcher than the Baylor product did. That said, Statcast ranked Langeliers’ overall defensive value 38th of 40 backstops.
Tyler Soderstrom (23) also shows promise. Unfortunately, Soderstrom’s progress last season was affected by a bone bruise in his wrist that cost him two months. In a small sample of 213 plate appearances, the 26th overall pick of 2020 had a .315 OBP and .429 SLG with a 114 OPS+.
A youngster who regressed after a strong rookie campaign was Zack Gelof. The 25-year-old suffered an early-season oblique injury and finished with a suboptimal 82 OPS+. This after a superb 131 OPS+ just one year earlier. Heading into 2025, the Delaware native must reduce a 34.4-percent strikeout rate that was highest among 129 qualified hitters.
Key Position Players (and 2024 OPS+)
1B - Tyler Soderstrom (114)
2B - Zack Gelof (82)
SS - Jacob Wilson (85)
3B - Gio Urshela (95)
LF/1B - Seth Brown (91)
CF - JJ Bleday (120)
RF - Lawrence Butler (131)
C - Shea Langeliers (111)
DH/LF - Brent Rooker (131)
Jacob Wilson, the sixth overall pick in 2023, will start at shortstop. Ranked as the 31st-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 22-year-old played 28 games with Oakland last season.
Left-handed hitting Seth Brown should see time at first base and in the outfield. The Oregonian has historically been used against right-handed pitching, which was an area of strength in the past. But that wasn’t the case last year. The 32-year-old had a career-worst .662 OPS against right-handers. A steep decline from the .776 OPS manufactured in 2021-23.
As for new players, the most prominent hitters acquired in the offseason weren’t marquee names: Gio Urshela and Luis Urías.
Urshela had a below-average 28.4-percent hard-hit rate last year, although he did minimize strikeouts (15.6-percent). Still, his 82 OPS+ was suboptimal. Then again, the 33-year-old’s three OAA at the hot corner suggests he was an above-average defender.
Outs Above Average (OAA) is a range-based metric that quantifies how many outs a defender has saved compared to the average player. League-average is always ZERO. Source: Baseball Savant
Urías began last season as part of a third base platoon with Josh Rojas in Seattle. Rojas quickly became the starter and Urías was assigned to Class-AAA Tacoma. Perhaps a path to additional playing time opens at second base for the Mexican, if Gelof were to falter again.
Notable Reserves (and 2024 OPS+)
C- Jhonny Pereda (33)
INF - Luis Urías (105)
UTL - Max Schuemann (82)
OF - Miguel Andujar (103)
OF - Esteury Ruiz (87)
OF - Denzel Clarke (MiLB)
INF - Darell Hernaiz (MiLB)
INF - CJ Alexander (MiLB)
OF - Drew Avans (MiLB) +
3B - Brett Harris (59)*
+ Not on 40-man roster
* Injured
As a rookie last year, Max Schuemann (82 OPS+) didn’t provide a lot of offense, although he did steal 14 bases. That said, Kotsay made use of Schuemann’s positional versatility. The 27-year-old primarily started at shortstop and third base. He also appeared at second base and all three outfield positions.
Jhonny Pereda projects to be the backup catcher. But it’ll be interesting to see whether the club goes with a 28-year-old who has just 10 MLB starts behind the plate. Pereda and Langeliers are the only backstops on the 40-man roster.
Rotation
Over the winter, Sacramento added a pair of starting pitchers to address the roster’s biggest weakness. Luis Severino was signed as a free agent, while Jeffrey Springs of the Rays arrived via trade.
Last season, Severino made 31 starts - his highest total since 2018. The 31-year-old’s .305 xwOBA was 40th-best. Severino doesn’t generate a lot of whiffs (21.2-percent strikeout rate). But the two-time All-Star did have the 10th-lowest barrel rate.
Expected Weighted On-Base Average (xwOBA) uses quality of contact (exit velocity and launch angle) to determine what should’ve happened to batted balls. A key advantage to xwOBA is defense (good or bad) doesn’t influence it. This gives us a truer sense of how a hitter or pitcher is performing.
Springs made just seven starts last season. The 32-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and didn’t pitch in MLB until last July. After returning, Springs had an impressive 3.27 ERA and better-than-average .298 xwOBA. Still, it’s reasonable to wonder what kind of workload the southpaw can provide in 2025.
Dating back to his college career at Appalachian State in 2012-15, Springs has exceeded 100 innings in a season twice. In 2017, he logged 112.1 frames with High-A Down East. He then reached the milestone with the Rays in 2022 when he covered 135.1 innings during a career-high 25 starts.
JP Sears was the team’s most durable and consistent starter in 2024. For a second consecutive season, Sears made 32 starts. No other Oakland pitcher started more than 24 games. That said, the left-hander’s numbers were below average.
Opponents had a .251 AVG and .439 SLG against Sears, while his .324 xwOBA was worse than the MLB average for starters (.317). Factors contributing to these stats were a 18.3-percent strikeout rate and hitters producing a 10.2-percent barrel rate against The Citadel product.
An arm I’ll be watching is Osvaldo Bido. The second-year player made his Oakland debut in 2024 with 16 appearances, including nine starts. In those nine outings, he limited opponents to a .201 AVG, .299 SLG, and .256 xwOBA. Definitely a small sample. But this kind of production over a full season would make the 28-year-old a frontline starter on most teams, including the Mariners.
Severino, Springs, Sears, Bido, and Joey Estes will be the Opening Day rotation with Kirkland, Washington native Mitch Spence working out of the bullpen.
Starter Stable (and 2024 xwOBA)
Luis Severino (.305)
Jeffrey Springs (.298)
JP Sears (.324)
Osvaldo Bido (.257)
Joey Estes (.324)
Mitch Spence (.314)
J.T. Ginn (.329)
Jacob Lopez (.294)
Gunnar Hoglund (MiLB)
Mason Barnett (MiLB) +
Jack Perkins (MiLB) +
Jason Alexander (MiLB) +
Brady Basso (.289)*
Ken Waldichuk (DNP) *
* Injured
+ Not on 40-man roster
Spence and Estes share several similarities. Both are right-handed, made 24 starts, and were rookies last year. Plus, opponents had a high OPS against Spence (.786) and Estes (.781). That said, Estes is three years younger than the 26-year-old Spence.
Bullpen
Most of last year’s key relievers are back. But the Athletics did sign longtime Ranger José Leclerc over the winter. The 31-year-old struck out 30.9-percent of the players he faced, while just 10 of 175 relievers had a lower hard-hit rate than Leclerc’s 30.7-percent.
Mason Miller returns as the closer. The right-hander’s four-seam fastball velocity averaged 100.9-mph, which was second-highest among all pitchers last year. Unsurprisingly, his 41.8-percent strikeout rate was tops in baseball.
Leclerc, T.J. McFarland, and Tyler Ferguson will be responsible for getting the ball to Miller. Hard-throwing Michel Otañez was supposed to be in the mix. But he’ll miss the start of the season with a shoulder impingement.
Bullpen pool (and 2024 xwOBA)
Mason Miller (.206)
José Leclerc (.294)
Tyler Ferguson (.297)
T.J. McFarland (.285)
Hogan Harris (.343)
Mitch Spence (.314)
Noah Murdock (MiLB)**
Grant Holman (MiLB)
Justin Sterner (MiLB)
Elvis Alvarado (MiLB)
Ryan Cusick (MiLB)
Dylan Floro (.307) +
Ben Bowden (.327) +
Anthony Maldonado (.295) +
Matt Krook (MiLB) +
Tanner Dodson (MiLB) +
CD Pelham (MiLB)+
Pedro Santos (MiLB )+
Michel Otañez (.246) *
* Injured
+ Not on 40-man roster
** Rule 5 pick
The left-handed throwing McFarland led MLB with 79 appearances last season and faced about the same number of batters from each side of the plate. Right-handed hitters had a much higher OPS against the 35-year-old (.779) compared to lefty bats (.592).
As a 30-year-old rookie, Ferguson’s impressive 30.3-percent strikeout rate was top-30 among relievers. Furthermore, the Vanderbilt product limited opponents to a .303 SLG and allowed just four home runs in 51.1 innings.
Outlook
To me, the A’s are an enigma. There’s a core of talented young position players, plus Rooker, leading the charge on offense. However, a lot is riding on the youth movement’s momentum. Will the kids continue to improve? Or will there be regression similar to what Gelof experienced in 2024?
The rotation should be better than last year with Severino in the top spot. But what will the A’s get from Springs? If he can remain available and effective, the starting staff suddenly looks much better. Especially if Bido can continue his development and stay healthy.
Having said all that, the biggest wildcard to this nerd is the ballpark in Sacramento. How will it affect both the lineup and pitching staff?
I guess we’ll find out together.
My Oh My…