Today’s grab bag of talking points comes after the A’s squeaked out a 2-1 win over the streaky Cubs. A good and important win, if frustrating because the A’s faced a flammable SP and had to eek out a victory by the seat of their pants. But they did so all is well for a day.
Lawrence Butler
What exactly is the A’s plan for how to deal with their recently extended RFer who just can’t it going in 2026? Carlos Cortes has emerged as the clearly superior choice to start in RF against RHP and so the A’s have taken the proper approach in a performance based industry and handed Cortes the job most every day.
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Trouble is that has left Butler as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement languishing on the bench getting precious few at bats with a spotlight on him as a player so bad he can’t crack the lineup and isn’t getting the reps needed to prove otherwise or get in a rhythm.
While optioning Butler to AAA might be a blow to the ego, it’s arguable that so is a daily benching. Lately Butler has only gotten into the lineup as an occasional sub in CF for Henry Bolte, in which his defensive limitations are exposed while the bat produced all of a .135/.262/.154 line in May.
The status quo, where Butler sits on the bench most of the game most days except when he starts and plays a position he’s bad at, is helping who? It seems like the A’s need to go one of two distinct directions with Law: start him in RF at least half the time or option him to AAA for a reset. This “in between” limbo isn’t good for his confidence or development, nor for the team’s success.
9th Inning Drama
The A’s appear to be embracing the “closer by committee” approach, which is fine other than the fact that it almost never works. Last night, with a 1-run lead, Mark Kotsay turned to Scott Barlow who does have the most career saves of any A’s reliever. But those 61 saves were earned when Barlow was throwing 93-95 MPH and the 2026 version tosses sinkers at 89.4 MPH.
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Barlow has done mostly a good job for the A’s, but a closer he isn’t. He has a 5.00 BB/9 IP rate and a very middling K rate (7.67/9 IP). His 3.00 ERA belies the underlying metrics that show a 3.63 xERA and a whopping 5.40 xFIP.
Last night Barlow was bailed out by lefty Hogan Harris, also a shaky choice to close out a game with his 22 BB (and 2 HBP) in 28 innings. Meanwhile, Jack Perkins, he of the 33 K and 7 BB in 28 IP, has been relegated to mop up duty lately, while Luis Medina, who has been scored upon in only 4 of 18 appearances, has been used sporadically with no discernible pattern.
Perkins and Medina are flawed in their own ways for sure, but what they bring to the table is “closer stuff”. For the A’s to putz around with guys like Barlow, Harris, and Mark Leiter Jr. trying to secure win in close games, is fraught with danger — as we saw last night when it did work out, barely. Not that Perkins has been above blowing a save, but the stuff plays. Barlow’s…not so much.
“Closer by committee” is better named “try to win with smoke and mirrors”. I don’t recommend it.
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Infield Decisions Loom
Max Muncy is 3 games into a rehab assignment at AAA, while Jacob Wilson may go out on his rehab later this week. Those two represent the starting left side of the infield in April, since replaced by Zack Gelof and Darell Hernaiz, with the slick fielding Alika Williams taking over Hernaiz’ UTL infielder spot.
Wilson’s return will be simple: he will start at SS and presumably Hernaiz will return to the utility role at Williams’ expense. But Muncy’s return is more imminent and more complicated. Gelof has done a good job since taking over 3B, though it has also been an up and down ride.
Both offensively and defensively, Gelof started out strong, then had a bad stretch, and has since recovered to be strong again. Overall, here’s where Gelof’s numbers are in 44 big leagues games:
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Batting: .261/.305/.430, 25.5% K rate, 102 wRC+
Defense at 3B: +4 DRS, -1 OAA
The question is whether Muncy represents an upgrade, an equivalent, or a downgrade as a 3Bman. Muncy has also had an up-and-down season at the plate prior to the injury — it’s unclear to what extent the injury played a part or to what extent his poor swing decisions caught up to him. His stats in 26 games before hitting the IL:
Batting: .239/.308/.402, 35.6% K rate, 95 wRC+
Defense at 3B: -4 DRS, -4 OAA
If anything is clear it’s that Gelof is the superior fielder, partly because by the metrics Muncy has been pretty awful. (Last season Muncy ran at an identical pace, with -4 DRS and -2 OAA in half the number of innings.) At the plate both are dangerous, inconsistent, and streaky.
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Perhaps there is room for some sharing of the position with Muncy highlighted against LHP and Gelof getting plenty of starts against RHP. Another possibility is that Gelof could be the one to spell Bolte in CF sometimes, rather than Butler — a development that makes more sense if Butler is not on the bench, e.g., if Muncy’s activation coincides with optioning Butler.
History shows Muncy being handed the every day gig at 3B twice now despite not proving he can handle the position defensively nor hitting consistently. But this came at times when Gelof was either injured or at AAA. We’ll see what the A’s brass is thinking when Muncy’s rehab is completed — which should be in a matter of days.
Your thoughts on all of the above? Or some of the above? Share your thoughts…below.
