by Bill Moriarity / A’s Farm Editor
March 27, 2024
With spring training now complete, it’s a good time to take a look at how the A’s 2024 opening day roster seems to be shaping up. So, as we get ready for opening day, let’s take a position-by-position look at how things appear to be stacking up for the 2024 Oakland A’s…
CATCHERS
Shea Langeliers, who appeared in 135 games last season, is set to return as the A’s starting catcher in 2024. He managed to bash 12 home runs in just 180 at-bats after the All-Star break, and the 26-year-old backstop hopes to continue the power surge this year. The question is who will open the season as his backup. Oakland signed last year’s primary backup catcher, Carlos Perez, who appeared in 68 games for the A’s in 2023, to a minor league contract in the offseason. The veteran receiver did a capable job backing up Langeliers last season and seems to be the likely choice to open the season as the team’s backup backstop once again. But coming down to the final exhibition game of the season, Kyle McCann was still in the mix as well. Meanwhile, after batting just .160 in 45 big league games last year, the A’s front office would like to give 22-year-old prospect Tyler Soderstrom a little more time to refine his approach at Triple-A, but it seems highly likely that Soderstrom may be back with the big club by the second half.
INFIELDERS
Fortunately, the A’s infield picture seems to be pretty well settled at this point. Ryan Noda, who had the best on-base percentage among all A’s with at least 100 at-bats last season, appears set at first base. And Zack Gelof, who put up the best OPS among all A’s hitters last year after coming up and appearing in 69 games in the second half, seems to have established himself at second base. Defensive whiz Nick Allen started the most games at shortstop for the A’s last season and looks set to return as the primary starter at the position again this year. His batting average after the All-Star break was 42 points better than it was before the break, and the 25-year-old hopes to continue those improvements at the plate in 2024. Veteran J.D. Davis was signed during spring training to be the primary starter at the hot corner for the A’s. Meanwhile, switch-hitter Abraham Toro, who’s out of options, will be available to fill in at third, second, and possible even first. And with Aledmys Diaz starting the season on the injured list, 22-year-old Darell Hernaiz, who slashed .321/.386/.456 between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas last year, will also make the opening day roster as a backup infielder who’s likely to get some starts at the hot corner against lefties, with Davis occasionally shifting to first or the designated hitter spot. Meanwhile, Jordan Diaz, who made more starts at third than anyone but Jace Peterson last season, will open the season back in the infield with Triple-A Las Vegas.
OUTFIELDERS
The A’s should have plenty of outfield options available to them on this year’s roster. There’s Brent Rooker, who led the team with 30 home runs, and Esteury Ruiz, who led the league with 67 stolen bases, both right-handed hitters, to go along with left-handed swingers Seth Brown, JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler. The A’s also acquired right-handed hitter Miguel Andujar, a former third baseman who’s shifted to the outfield in the past few years. Andujar was the American League Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2018 and still has the ability to handle the bat pretty well, as evidenced by his .270 batting average and .449 slugging percentage over 298 career games in the big leagues. It looked like he’d wrapped up a roster spot with his torrid hitting this spring, but he’ll instead start the season on the injured list. Look for Rooker to get the bulk of at-bats in the designated hitter role, while Ruiz may bounce between left and center, as he did in the second half last year. Brown, Bleday and Butler are likely to get most of their starts in the outfield against righties, while Ruiz and Rooker will likely find themselves in the outfield against lefties.
STARTING PITCHERS
After using 24 different starting pitchers last year, the A’s acquired lefthander Alex Wood and righthander Ross Stripling to help solidify the top of their rotation. Lefty JP Sears and righty Paul Blackburn were two of the more reliable starters on last year’s staff and are set to return to this year’s rotation. With righthander Luis Medina and lefthander Ken Waldichuk set to start the season on the injured list, righthander Joe Boyle, will claim the final spot in this year’s starting rotation. Rule-5 righty Mitch Spence and lefty Kyle Muller, who’s out of options, were candidates to start, but it now looks like both will end up starting the season serving as long men out of the bullpen. Meanwhile, righties Joey Estes, Osvaldo Bido, Adrian Martinez and Royber Salinas, and lefties Hogan Harris, Jack O’Loughlin and Brady Basso all look like candidates for the Triple-A rotation in Las Vegas.
RELIEF PITCHERS
At various times this offseason, A’s general manager David Forst has mentioned Mason Miller, Lucas Erceg and Dany Jimenez, all righthanders, as possible options to close. All three appear to have big league bullpen spots wrapped up to start the season. The A’s would be likely to lose Rule-5 righty Mitch Spence and lefty Kyle Muller, who’s out of options, if they don’t make the opening day roster, so they appear set to serve as long men in the bullpen. Southpaws Sean Newcomb and Scott Alexander and righty Trevor Gott all seemed set to claim spots in the big league bullpen, but all will now open the season on the injured list. And that leaves recently reacquired lefthander T.J. McFarland and righthanders Austin Adams and Zach Jackson, who’s made 73 relief appearances for the A’s over the past two seasons, as the most likely candidates to fill out the A’s opening day bullpen. Righty Michael Kelly, who’s currently on the 40-man roster and pitched well this spring, is likely to open the season in Las Vegas waiting for an opportunity to open up in the A’s bullpen.
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