You will forgive the Eyeball Scout for leaning on phrases like “Well he sounded good” but that sunscreen takes a while to get out of your ducts. I kid, I kid, there was no sunscreen in the eye incident. Though in hindsight I probably should have used a little since red isn’t my best color.
Let me open with some “programming notes”:
- Part II of the 3-part Kyle Boddy interview is ready to go and so I will publish it in the next couple days.
- On Friday I was able to procure 3 new interviews that will run when they are transcribed. They are with Max Muncy (2 days before he made the team), Jeffrey Springs (the day before his final spring training tuneup), and Marcus Jensen (bullpen catcher, conversation focused on blocking balls in the dirt).
The A’s swept the 2 games I attended, one a resounding 10-1 crushing of the Royals and the other a 4-3 walk-off win over the Brewers in the home finale. Here are some observations from my time at the ballpark…
Max Muncy
Whether it was watching him play or listening to him talk, you can’t help but be impressed with this young man. You will read the interview, hopefully soon, but sitting with him he just exudes maturity, self-awareness, and that enviable combination of confidence and humility.
On the field Muncy walked the walk, putting together consistently solid plate appearances and looking comfortable at both 2B and 3B (you will hear him talk at length about his self-assessment at those positions).
The box score shows Muncy just 1 for 4 with a BB over those 2 games but even in the at bat that ended in a strikeout he worked the count full with a couple great takes before finally swinging through a plus fastball.
I see Muncy, who has always been young for his leagues and MLB will be no exception, as a guy who will probably struggle in his maiden voyage through the league — partly because historically he has had some swing and miss in his game and partly because he won’t see much time, if any, at his natural position of SS.
But I won’t be at all surprised if Muncy shines as a big leaguer sometime in 2025. I would prefer that Zack Gelof, who was finishing spring training strong, hadn’t landed on the IL but it could also be, in some ways, a blessing in disguise that it catapults Muncy into “The Show” ahead of schedule.
Drew Avans
Avans has been a long shot to make the roster, kind of sitting in the “27th spot,” but I will say that he did some things to impress me including, of course, his game ending leaping catch crashing against the wall in left-center field.
What I saw was excellent range and closing speed, and at the plate he executed a perfect drag bunt for a hit. I don’t imagine he will hit a ton in the big leagues, but his glove is valuable and if he can do “the little things” (sac bunt, steal bases, situational hitting) he could be a very useful bench piece.
Given the A’s weakness at CF defense until Denzel Clarke arrives, I really hope Avans gets a chance sooner rather than later because now is when the team really needs an accomplished CFer.
Those “Little Things”
Speaking of, one of the things that has impressed me all spring, and was in evidence Friday and Saturday, is that this A’s team appears to be far better at situational hitting than A’s teams of yore.
Perhaps a piece of it is that the 2025 A’s feature some hitters with good “bat to ball”/low K skills, e.g., Jacob Wilson, Miguel Andujar, Gio Urshela, JJ Bleday, but also there just seems to be an emphasis on reading the situation and hitting accordingly.
It’s gratifying to see, because it’s the kind of skills at which small market teams need to excel — you may not be able to afford superstars but every team gets some lead off doubles and you can capitalize on the opportunities in front of you better than the team you’re playing. So far so great.
Shea Langeliers
Langeliers looks “locked in” for 2025. In a recent TV in-game interview, Shea is the guy Brent Rooker chose as the player he sees being primed for a big season.
Well, the stats would seem to agree with Rooker and so did my eyes. Langeliers has had 42 plate appearances so far this spring, batting .293/.326/.561. Last season his K rate was 27.2%.
Take a guess, before looking, at how many times he has struck out. The answer: once. And besides making much better swing decisions, the ball is coming off Shea’s bat easy making a regular stadium look like a bandbox.
Now…some of this can be attributed to the Cactus League, where balls fly and pitchers aren’t all accomplished. But it has been impressive nonetheless.
Justin Sterner
I got the chance to see Sterner pitch 1.1 IP on Friday and while his command came and went to some degree he was impressive, with a mid-90s fastball and solid secondary offerings.
I hadn’t realized quite how good his spring stats have been, but you can see why he is positioning himself to break camp as part of the A’s bullpen: 11 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 15 K.
So there’s a snap shot of my observations from Tempe, where the weather was a very cooperative 80-82 (I got out just in time, as the high is supposed to be 91 tomorrow and 95 on Tuesday).
Stay tuned for the interviews and for Opening Day just…OMG…4 days away!