The A’s defense has improved greatly in the past two months, quite a relief after April and May were a comedy of errors and a tragedy of plays not made. The current crew is actually sometimes turning hits into outs instead of the other way around, and yet a truth lingers: arguably not one, not two, not three, but four of the eight regulars might be playing at positions that are not their best fit.
“Learning On The Job”
2 of the 4 are recent transplants due to necessity. Max Muncy is most experienced and comfortable at SS but was plopped at 3B because that’s where there was a need. Meanwhile, with the call up of Nick Kurtz the A’s moved Tyler Soderstrom to LF where he had never played.
How is it going with those two? I think it’s fair to say that both are showing improvement in the past 2-3 weeks and that both have shown their inexperience along the way.
Muncy has cut down the errors and has made a few exceptional plays while also showing limited range both to his left and right with a tendency for his throws to be erratic — though less so lately than before. Overall, Muncy has crawled back to 0 DRS but stands at -3 OAA.
Soderstrom had a flurry of misjudged fly balls in a recent series but has made a couple of excellent plays on tougher chances on the current homestand, and he has made 2 perfect throws to the plate that would have nailed runners had the catcher not dropped the ball. Overall his defense now rates close to average with -1 DRS and 0 OAA.
Out Of Position At Their True Position?
I think you can make a great case that Jacob Wilson, with his strong work charging balls, solid instincts and strong arm, would make a plus defensive 3Bman. As a pro he has been exclusively a shortstop, but the reality is that he is not a good one at all so far.
Wilson’s lack of range is a huge issue at SS — it would be less so at 3B — and had led to him having some of the poorest ratings among American League shortstops. While he successfully fields most of the balls he gets to, charged with just 8 errors so far this season, the problem is that there are a lot of balls he doesn’t get to that his peers field and convert into outs.
As a result, with his range factor coming in at a dismal -9, Wilson’s DRS is also at -9 with -2 OAA overall.
Another player who has been locked in primarily at one position is Lawrence Butler, the A’s every day RFer (with the occasional innings in CF), and according to the metrics he is having his best season: currently he rates 3 DRS and 4 OAA.
But there is a key area of weakness for Butler and that is his arm (-3 rARM by the numbers). RF is a position where a strong arm is particularly valuable because of all the throws to 3B. Where can a weaker arm be hidden better from being exposed? LF, where the throws to 2B and home are identical but the throw to 3B is much shorter.
Conclusion
3 of the A’s 8 defensive players should probably be moved, while those moves displace the 4th. Specifically, come 2026 the A’s really need to explore flipping Muncy and Wilson on the left side of the infield, and Butler’s best position is probably LF.
That leaves Soderstrom either flipping to RF — or perhaps he is dealt as odd man out in a young core whose potential every day outfield includes Butler, Denzel Clarke, and Colby Thomas. Thomas’ arm plays up in RF so his emergence should only encourage moving Butler over to LF.
Now, there’s something to be said for not moving players constantly around the diamond. If Muncy is finally getting comfortable at 3B and Butler is moving from an overall below average RFer to an overall above average one, and you just asked Soderstrom to master LF, are these shakeups worth it?
The answer may be found in the advanced metrics, which say the A’s are giving back a chunk of their offensive firepower through defensive weaknesses — poor range at SS, weak arm in RF, and so on.
Food for thought, anyway.